It Only Takes A Moment
by EmaniaHilel
Summary: ...or a few of them, anyway. A series of vignettes exploring random moments between Robin and Raven. What makes one fall in love? A thunderbolt of sudden inspiration, or a handful of random moments? UPDATE: Part XVI: Night Shift.
1. I: Talk of Dreams

_**It Only Takes A Moment…  
**_"_It only takes a moment / __For your eyes to meet and then  
Your heart knows in a moment /You will never be alone again"  
_-"It Only Takes A Moment" (Hello, Dolly!)_  
_

**A/N:** Okay…before you even _start_ to read this, you should know a little something about this project. It is not a story. Well…not _really_. It's **_not_** going to be a full fledged, chaptered story with a plot and everything. Basically, what it is going to be is a series of vignettes, or short one-shots that don't really have any particular connection to one another except that they will all deal with moments of conversation or just randomness between Robin and Raven. They will have some insinuation of romance, although I make no promise that there will be _actual_ romance in any of them. Just…like it says…moments. Basically, I started thinking that Robin and Raven (admittedly, especially after the Epilogue to **_Tried and Tested_**) aren't the kind of people to fall in love out of the blue like a thunderbolt. And also the show seems to be peppered with little moments between them two. So I thought…why not explore other moments?

Some of these vignettes might at some moment make it into a story, some might not. I don't know. I have no plans for them. All I can say is that I kept getting little snippets of scenes in my head, completely random moments between the two that I thought were cute, but didn't fit into any of the stories I said I'd write. And, actually, this helps me because I get to explore their characters a little more without having to worry about making everything that happens _mean something_ to any of the story plots I had thought up.

Right now, I've got three of these vignettes already thought up. Two of them are written. But only one of them…this first one, **_Talk of Dreams_** is actually written on the computer and ready to post. I'm going to _try_ to make them alternate between Robin and Raven's point of view, but I think my muse likes Robin's point of view more than Raven's, so I don't know how much I can keep to that. Also, I don't usually write first person, so it'll only be through their point of view, not them speaking…oh, and since this is a project where I'm just going to let Puck (my muse, remember?) inspire whatever he wants to inspire without thinking about if it makes sense in any particular story plot line, I make no promises about this either.

So, yeah…as always…if you like a particular scene enough that you would like to see it play out more, feel free to review about it. Puck's a ham and might just inspire me to more of that particular scene if you guys insist on it.

However, as it stands, the plan is to do however many of these little vignettes it takes and _maybe_ in the end, there might be a real romantic one…again…no promises. (evil grin)

Oh, and in case you couldn't tell, **_It Only Takes a Moment_** is the title of the entire collection, while each 'chapter' or Part will have an individual title as well.

* * *

**_I: Talk of Dreams…  
_**_**By Em**_

_"I talk of dreams/ Which are the children of an idle brain/ Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,"  
_-Romeo & Juliet, William Shakespeare (Mercutio)

He refused to turn on the light. He could get from the elevator into the kitchen without having to turn on the lights and fiddle with Cyborg's system. And of course it had nothing to do with the fact that he wasn't certain he remembered the right code…

"Oomph," he mumbled as he bumped into the sofa table.

He shifted to the right and tried to measure his step so he could walk around it, the kitchen had to be in that direction, but when he shifted his feet, he stubbed his bare toe with _something_ on the ground, "Fer cryin' out…" he cursed under his breath, frustrated. By the time he had nearly knocked over the lamp, he was about ready to chance the lights and ready to blame it all entirely on Cyborg should he get it wrong. _'Would serve him right to be woken up at 4 in the morning...' _he thought unforgivingly. _'Damnhis paranoia of having to change the code every other night…'_

He just barely skirted the coffee table, _'How did I get on the _other_ side of the sofa?',_ and had managed to walk a few inches when he tangled his ankle in the cables from the gamestation. "Ricket…fracket…get my hands…" he tried to calmly disentangle himself from the cables but only managed to somehow get himself more wrapped up in them so he pulled all he harder, "…swine…monkey boy…_I'll _show him…bananas…" he continued to ramble in as if he were quite content with the ideas of torture that were running through his head, finally chuckling ominously when the he tugged the remote free and another thought occurred to him, "…_weeks!"_ he decided, then shook his head, "…months!" he amended, finally almost crying out in triumph when he managed to stand without any cables around any part of him.

He squared his shoulders and began to walk toward the kitchen when suddenly the light from the kitchen turned on and five things happened at once: first, the sudden action surprised him and he tensed for battle. Unfortunately, the second thing that happened was that the light blinded him, so thirdly, he didn't watch as his foot stepped into the _third_ controller he hadn't gotten stuck in the last time and so of course, fourthly, the control got irreparably wrapped around his feet and fifthly, he fell right on his ass.

To his credit, he recovered quickly. His honed reflexes allowed him to react almost on instinct to blink the sudden brightness from his eyes and stand (as fluidly as he could stand with a controller still wrapped around his left foot) while reaching for his bo-staff at his belt. Unfortunately, it wasn't until he touched nothing but cloth and bare skin that he realized he had just woken up and come down for a snack without thinking to dress for any possible problem.

"Superman boxers?"

Robin just barely managed to avoid smacking his head with the flat of his hand as he realized who it was that had turned on the light. Honestly, he would've preferred for it to have been Dr. Light or...hell, _anyone_ else that had seen his embarrassing lack of grace.

And then what she had _actually_ said filtered through to his consciousness and he blushed straight through to his roots. Still not having looked up to see her face, his eyesight fell onto his own clothing…or, _lack_ of clothing for that matter, for he had been so tired that night that he hadn't bothered to dress in anything more than his boxers when he had emerged from his shower and had promptly fallen asleep.And, _of course_, he had been so disoriented and disturbed by his dream that he had walked out of his oppressively stuffy room without even considering what he was wearing. As he realized that he was, in fact, wearing the Superman boxers that Beast Boy had gotten him as a gag gift last Christmas, he wondered when he was going to wake up and realize that it had all been one of those horrible dreams like walking in to take a test naked.

"I would've thought you more the Spongebob Squarepants type."

He briefly had considered playing it as if he had been sleepwalking, but then figured, she was an empath…she wouldn't have bought it. And then it occurred to him...she was goading him! He realized it by the tone of her voice. She was _actually_ trying to get him even more embarassed. In essence, she teasing him. He didn't thinkshe _did_ teasing. The thought settled like jello in his stomach. Usually, she restrained her sarcasm to reactions of some other person's comments, but he had spoken not a word and she _could've_ just ignored it and said nothing. He knew there was something he should be thinking about, but he was too groggy and that unsettled jello feeling in the pit of his stomach wasn't going away, so he figured, _'Hey, why not?'_ If she wanted to play it that way, he could play along.

He looked up at her squarely in the face and shook his head. "Spongebob is only for _special_ occassions," he admitted sarcastically. She was standing against the kitchen counter, a steaming mug of something in her hands, a slight smirk on her lips. He thought he saw a bit of amusement in her eyes, but since he was still seeing spots from the sudden flash of lights, he figured he could be wrong. "Damn, Raven," he muttered as he blinked a bit more to get rid of them. "Did you have to flash the lights on like that?" he asked on a bit of a whine.

She chuckled and the sound was low as if she were trying to hide it from him, but he heard it. He watched herwalk to the wall and with a press of buttons on the keypad, the overhead lights turned off leaving only the much warmer and less bright light over the stove. He sighed. _'Better_,' he thought as he started towalk toward her.

"Let me guess," her voice broke into the silence, "You forgot the code again?" she asked.

He glared at her and would have answered her, too, with something just as witty and sarcastic had it not been for the fact that he had apparently walked the length of the controller cablewithout remembering that it was still wrapped around his ankle. When it pulled his foot enough to almost make him fall again, he sighed loudly._'Of course,'_ he thought as he bent to remove it, only to find it disentangle itself from his ankle and settle back innocuously against the gamestation. He looked up at her. "Thanks."

She shrugged. "Least I could do."

"Actually," he started, walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge to peer hopelessly into it. "The least you could do is pretend like this never happened."

He chanced a hopefull glanceat her only to find that she was back at the counter andfacing him. To his dismay, she shook her head. "The Boy Wonder in Superman Boxers?" She grinned behind the raised cup she still held close to her face as if she were basking in its warmth. "That's imprinted in my mind forever now…"

He leaned on the fridge's door and raised a brow. He allowed himself to look at what she was wearing. It wasn't anything embarrassing. And she wasn't in her uniform._'I guess that answers the question as to whether or not she sleeps in it,'_he mused. It was, however, a pyjama set in a dark royal blue satin that fell in soft waves over her body and seemed to ripple a little with her movements and her breath. It was perfectly decent...and yet, utterly decadent. "Satin?" He let his look show that it wasn't entirely displeasing. "I didn't know you went for the satin look."

She raised her own eyebrow and put the cup down. "What did you think I slept in?" she challenged, "A t-shirt and socks?" and as if to give him a chance to look at the whole picture, she shifted until she sat on the chair, gracefully. She shrugged and the satin was moving against her again. "Just because I don't do fluff doesn't mean I like to be uncomfortable."

Realizing that his comment had backfired he decided to focus on his snack and decided on some milk from the fridge, remembering to make certain it wasn't expired. And as heplaced the jug on the counter, he spared her a sideways glance. "Certainly looks comfortable at that," he mumbled, his back to her as he sought out a clean glass. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her smirk, and decided he better get some cookies too.

"Milk _and_ cookies?" she asked. "Must've been a doozie."

He grunted as he dug around the back of the fridge where they hid them from Beast Boy. "Pretty Bad," he admitted as he brought out the emergency Oreos they had learned to hide inan oversizedcan of spam. He opened it and automatically offered her one. To his surprise, she reached in and took one, bringing it thoughtfully up to her lips.

"You?" he asked, dunking the cookie in the glass and hurrying it to his mouth before it dripped. He hadn't bothered to sit down but leaned on the counter on his elbows.

She nodded as she nibbled on the cookie, but didn't seem apt to say anymore. So, he let the silence grow between them. There was always something comfortable about the silences between himself and Raven, he realized as he munched absently on cookies. They never felt they had to fill it with useless chatter or meaningless words. It was never awkward. And so, for awhile, they just ate quietly, both lost in their attempts to forget the nightmares that had taken them from the arms of sleep.

It wasn't until he had re-filled his milk glass that she spoke again, "I bet mine was worse than yours," she said quietly as she reached for another cookie.

He looked at her in surprise. He had seen some of the things that she dealt with on her birthday, some of the destruction she tried to keep from happening and knew that she very likely had enough material to have some pretty bad dreams. Still, he shook his head. "Doubt it," he assured.

She raised a brow in challenge and motioned with a half eaten cookie as if to say, _'After you…'_ And Robin wondered if he had always been able to interpret her gestures or if it had started after the mind meld?

"Well…" he started. "I suppose the gist of it, without all the narration, is that I found myself on a bed watching as villain after villain came through my open window and into the Tower and although I knew I should do something, I should get up and stop them, I couldn't…" he blinked back the sensation of frustration. "I couldn't move…I could do nothing more than just lay there as they came through and they ignored me like I wasn't even there, and I couldn't even speak even though I tried and I was panicking, I couldn't…" he sighed and dunked another cookie, bringng it to his lips. He chewed and thought and Raven didn't interrupt, didn't prod or prompt, just sat there, alternately sipping from her tea and chewing on a cookie, watching him and waiting. "And finally," he said, swallowing, "Slade made his appearance," his voice was far away. "And he saw me…and he started telling me everything he was going to do to all of you…and although I struggled, my limbs were just too heavy for me to lift, it was like my body wasn't taking signals from my mind anymore and just as he started to approach me…" he met her eyes as if remembering she was in the room, "…I woke up."

She looked sympathetic as she sipped at her now lukewarm tea. "That is pretty bad," she admitted. She looked down at her cup and exhaled, as if through his telling, she had been living it with him. "I hate those nightmares…" she looked at him. "It's the frustration of not being able to do anything…of being completely immobile…I usually get them where I can't speak or scream and the worst ones are when I'm running towards someone to warn them or save them and although I keep trying to run faster and faster, or fly faster, I don't get any closer or its like I'm not moving at all...and not a thing is holding me back, but no matter how much I try, I just can't get there…"

He nodded. "That's it, exactly," he agreed. "_Hate_ them."

"Those are just subconscious representations of our unconscious fears, though," she said, offering him a small smile. "Because all we can do is rely on the knowledge that when the time comes, we will be able to react, we will be able to warn and fight back."

Robin looked out at the darkness of the living room and the rest of the Tower, realizing that the light from the kitchen only pushed back the darkness up until just barely reaching where he had fallen. "What were you doing here in the dark?" he asked finally.

She shrugged casually as she reached for another cookie and absently opened it up to eat the part with the cream first. "I don't need the light to see," she admitted.

"So you made your tea and were just sitting here in the dark drinking it until you heard me coming down?"

"Until I heard you _fumbling_ down, but yeah."

He narrowed his eyes at her, but wasn't certain she could catch it through the mask. He stood and tried to be imposing to make up for his lack of grace. "Why?" he asked. She looked a question at him and again, he knew just what that question was. "Why the dark?" he cleared up.

"I don't need the light to see…" she repeated as if he should have caught it last time.

"Does that mean you don't _want_ the light?" he asked.

She shrugged and seemed about to say something when she met his eyes and stopped herself, rethinking it and looking past him for a moment to stare at an inconsequential point in the wall. "Having the light on when I'm down here by myself makes it all the more empty," she admitted. "In the dark, I…" she paused. "…it's just me and the dark and what's in front of me…in the light…" she looked around as if seeing everything that the light showed. "It's so much more…_empty_." She shrugged; as if that was the best answer she could give.

Frankly, he was floored. He hadn't expected her to give him even that much of an answer. And that she _had_ started to give him her usual type of 'none of your business' answer had not escaped his notice. It was as if something had made her change her mind and give him a _real_ answer. And he couldn't help wondering, what had changed her mind? Why? And why did it make him smile just a little?

"Not empty now," he said softly.

She looked at him and there was a look of near mischief in her eyes. "Not now that you and your garish boxers have arrived, no," she teased.

"Will you never let me live this down?" he asked on a half moan.

She chuckled. "No," she said surely.

"Beast Boy gave them to me," he offered as a defense.

She raised both her eyebrows. "That was your first mistake," she said drolly, the humor still in her voice. "Never wear anything that Beast Boy gives you."

"Like you haven't worn the Wonder Woman pjs he gave you?" he challenged.

"Eh…_no_," she answered, but she hid her face from him and was too slow to keep him from catching the immediate blush.

"A-ha!" he exclaimed on a whisper. "You've worn the Wonder Woman boxers!"

"They're not boxers!" she defended. "They're sleep shorts and a cami," she said more calm. "Women don't wear boxers."

"Some women wear men's boxers," he said before he had thought about it.

She sat up straight and gave him a look. "Yes, because I'm so the type to prance around in men's boxers," she asked sarcastically rolling her eyes.

He tried not to think about her prancing in boxers and pointed out, "You're not exactly the type I'd picture in a 'cami' or satin either."

She shook her head and refrained from further comment. "Can we please not talk about sleepwear anymore?" she asked.

He grinned. "Why? Don't want me to ask you what other kind of pj sets you have?"

She stood up from the chair and walked passed him, "Why would you want to know?" she asked innocently as she walked to the sink.

He didn't know quite what to answer to that. There was the answer he wanted to give and the answer he probably should give and the answer…ah, it was too late for this…

"Mine _was_ worse, you know," she said from where she was washing out the mug.

"I still doubt it," he said securely. "But go ahead…lay it on me."

She turned off the sink and sudden the silence was back, like a palpable thing. "I dreamt Chandler from _Friends_ was my father."

Robin looked at her, eyes open in pure terror. (Even though she probably couldn't tell through the mask) "Chandler?" he asked, choking on the word. It was so inconceivable. Chandler as Raven's father? She turned and caught his look, even if she probably couldn't tell his eyes were open that wide, she must've caught his slack jaw.

She nodded seriously. "Chandler. And he wanted to take me to India."

He looked at her as if saying, _'what the hell?'_ and she shrugged as if saying, _'I know…scary.'_

"Okay," he admitted, raising his hands in defeat. As much as he hated to lose, in this case, he would concede defeat. With her dream, she had made that awful clenching feeling of fear that he got from the dream ease from his heart so he was almost willing to laugh. "You win."

Raven grinned for a moment. "Told ya so," she said as she put the clean cup away in the cabinet. Without another word, she started to walk away.

This, in itself, wasn't strange. She always left when she had nothing more to say and she never really indulged in meaningless verbal trivialities. But something was nagging Robin's sleep lagged brain and it wasn't until she was almost at the elevator that he realized what it was.

He followed her out to catch her. "Hey Raven?"

She turned back as she pressed the call button. "Hm?"

"I though you never watched _Friends_?"

She opened her eyes as if to say, _'Now you've got it'_. Aloud, she said,"I _don't_."

Robin felt himself shiver. "Okay…now _that's_ really freaky!"

She nodded sagely as if to say, _'Now, you see?'_ and when the elevator opened, stepped inside.

He had started to walk back to the kitchen to clean up his own mess but stopped as she called back to him.

"Oh, and by the way…" she called. He turned and raised an eyebrow in question, waiting. "You were there, too," she said just as the doors started to close with her inside.

He frowned, but before he could say anything more, the elevator had closed her away from him and had already begun its ascent to a higher floor. He had been there?

_'Wait…'_ his mind fought to catch up. Had Raven just admitted to dreaming with him? _'No,' _he answered himself forcefully. _'She admitted to having had a dream in which I was present…'_ He shook his head as he cleaned up the kitchen and hid the remaining cookies back in the fridge. "_So_ not the same thing…" he mumbled to himself. Especially considering it had been a nightmare.

But he couldn't help but wonder…what _had_ he been doing in her dream? And then, just as unbidden another thought occurred to him: She never challenged him when he insisted she wore the Wonder Woman pjs. His mind went from deductive leap to deductive leap, taking him from the fact she had never denied it when he had insisted to the thought of her wearing them and how funny she would look to the thought that it wouldn't be very funny at all to the realization that he was imaginging Raven in boxers and a t-shirt with socks.

His mind screeched to a halt. _'Where the _hell_ did that come from?'_ he wondered in a near panic. _'I really need to get some sleep...'_ he thought as he started to walk from the room, then stopped. And cursed Cyborg again.

He didn't remember how to turn _off_ the lights either. "Crap," he muttered with feeling.

* * *

**Dislcaimer:** I've pretty much come to the conclusion that no one is ever _really_ going to think that I own TT. I don't. And if Robin and Raven want to come and play in my imagination for a while, who are any of those lawyers to say they can't! 

**Extra A/N:** The rating is as it is just in case. Although I have yet to envision a lemon, slight hints of lime might pepper the vignettes...they might _not_, too, but just in case. Also, there's the language.


	2. II: The Game

**A/N:** Welcome back! Enjoy your stay.

**Disclaimer:** Still not mine. Shoo. Go…off with you.

_**It Only Takes A Moment:  
**__**Part II: The Game…  
**__**By Em**_

"_When your laughter enters / It rises to the sky seeking me / And it opens for me all / The doors of life"  
__-_ Your Laughter, Pablo Neruda

"Hyah! Take that!" The sound of thumping and attack spoke for itself for a moment and then, "How 'bout some of this?" Machine gun fire echoed in the otherwise silent room interrupted only by random muted screams.

This was mostly quiet (meaning, it wasn't as loud as it could be) and she normally would've been able to ignore it, but the joy in his voice kept drawing her attention and by the time the unmistakable gnawing sound of a chainsaw revving and cutting through, presumably, bone rang out around her, it had been minutes since she had turned a page of her book. Eventually, she gave up and looked up at the profile of their leader just in time to watch as he grinned brightly right before the sound of a wondrous explosion erupted into the common room. He sat back in proud contemplation of his work and directed another comment at the screen, "How do you like me now, huh?"

She couldn't help it when a slight smile overcame her resolve and spread itself on her lips. They were just like children whenever they played these games.

"_Foolish mortal!"_ the ominous voice came from the screen before them. _"You shall never overcome me!"_ it's voice grated on a cruel laugh.

He wasn't afraid. Instead, he smirked. But her attention was finally drawn to what was playing on the screen itself. The image of the burning building was overshadowed by the skeleton like being threatening the screen and spewing forth a tornado like thing that warped the character of the player presumably to another level.

The game paused before the new level could start and Raven turned to look at Robin, wondering why he had paused it only to find that he was looking at her.

'_Busted…'_ she thought.

He was offering her a wry smile, half surprised and half pleased, and all amused. "If you want to play, you can join in?"

She wiped the slight smile off her face and turned back to her book, shifting her body just slightly so that she was no longer facing the general direction of the screen. "I do not," she said stoically.

The game didn't start. And he didn't turn away from looking at her. "I just thought you were looking at it kinda interested…" he said innocently.

She focused harder on her book, but she wasn't really looking at the words. She bit back the defensive sarcastic remark. She had promised to try to be less biting after the whole Malchior thing. But damn, sometimes it was hard. "It surprised me that it wasn't the typical fighting or racing game, that's all," she said to her book. He was still staring at her. She could tell. She sighed and looked up at him. "What?" Even though she didn't have to ask; it was clear he wasn't buying it. Damn.

"Beast Boy isn't here, you know," he said simply.

"What are you trying to say?" she asked.

"That he won't tease you or make you want to try to play any of the other games," he offered. "I won't tell him that you showed interest in one of them." He grinned at her. "It'll be our little secret."

"You speak as if I have an interest in it…" she turned back to her book dismissively. "I don't."

"It's a really cool game," he continued cajolingly.

"I refuse to compete with you, Robin," she said seriously.

"It's not that kind of game."

And that caught her attention again enough that she looked up at him and turned back to the screen. "Come again?"

He knew he had her then and she hated it. "It's a role play kind of game and if there is more than one player, they work in teams to rid this city of the monsters and zombies and whatever, but you have to solve puzzles to get through the city and kill off zombies and stuff like that to get to the puzzles…it's really cool."

'Puzzles, huh?' she thought. That wasn't bad. At least, it wasn't a mindless game. He could see how tempted she was and she hated that too. She thought of another reason she shouldn't play and turned back to her book. "Don't know how to play," she told him.

"It's okay," he said. "I'll teach you."

She looked up at him and the look in her eyes was part confusion and part frustration. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Because it'll be fun," he grinned sideways again. "And it's the first time you've shown an interest in a game."

She sighed and raised a brow. "I'll probably hold you back…" she motioned vaguely to the game. "You won't get such a high score…"

He shrugged with one shoulder and patted the couch next to him. "No biggie."

She looked down at her book and closed it, setting it aside. "The book's lame, anyway," she mumbled as she stood up and sat down next to him. She took the controller he handed her and looked down at it as if it were an alien device. He chuckled under his breath and she looked up at him, eyes narrowed.

"Sorry," he offered instantly. "It's just I'm not used to seeing you look confused at anything," he explained.

'Oh, hell no,' she thought and started to stand up.

Only his quick reflexes kept her sitting…and staring at his hand on her arm. "Don't go," he said seriously. "I'm not making fun of you," he said earnestly. "I'm just a little giddy."

She looked at him sideways, but managed not to have to shake off his hand or react any specific way to the contact. "Giddy?"

He smiled and it was so sincere it almost made her fall over. "It's not everyday I get to teach you something, Raven," he said honestly.

She took the controller in her hands again and sat back on the couch, settling in. She wouldn't ask why it was important to him to be able to teach her _anything._ "So what's what here?" she started investigating the 1001 buttons, levers and triggers on the thing.

She looked up to find him grinning at her again but this time she was able to see through her initial embarrassment and see that it wasn't a smile like he was making fun of her…it was…_different_. Like he was pleased with himself, but not conceited. She couldn't quite name it, but it was nice.

He started pointing out buttons and their functions and explaining a bit about the game and she figured it couldn't be that difficult, so when, ten minutes later, he asked if she was ready, she nodded surely.

"You got the game plan?" he asked.

She nodded again. "I stick next to you and focus on taking out the bad guys on the left while you take out the ones on the right."

He nodded. "Good…let's go," he said and Raven couldn't help but chuckling a little. He caught it and looked at her as the game loaded. "What?"

She shrugged. "I thought you were going to say it."

"It?" he raised a brow.

"Yeah, you know…" she shrugged, her attention drawn to the game.

"No…I don't."

"Titans, GO!" she repeated, in a decent imitation of his voice.

The elevator doors in the game opened then and their attention was drawn to the game, but he managed to glance at her. "I don't sound like that."

She smiled. "Sure…okay," she said clearly unconvinced. She started to point and then remembered she had to keep her hands on the control, picking the right buttons as they were suddenly assaulted in order to keep the monsters back from them.

He was a good and patient teacher, being true to his word and not caring when they missed out on a few extra bonus points because she pressed the 'x' button when she should've pressed the 'y' button or when they didn't get through the level as fast as they could've if she hadn't had to be revived once or twice and hadn't taken the left corridor instead of the right. He was even aware of her enough that he protected her a few times when she had missed a few monsters that came out on her side of the screen. They worked through a few levels in silence, speaking only as they needed to work through the game and when, twenty-five minutes later, the stone slab before them shifted and turned, working through the combination they had figured out in order to open the next big level, Robin let go of the control and stretched, relaxing a moment and looking at her.

"Good job!" he exclaimed. "I wouldn't have thought to raise the Scepter to the opal!"

She blushed, but looked pleased. "You would've eventually."

He chuckled. "I feel like we're in one of those movies."

She looked at him. "Which one?"

He shrugged. "You know, like The Mummy or something, where the adventure is taken by the guy that's supposed to be the brawn and the other person that's supposed to be the smarts."

She made a face. "Except I'm kicking some pretty serious ass myself now that I've got a hang of this controller," she said proudly, "and you're not some dumb brawn with more muscles than brain either."

He chuckled. "True on both counts." He smiled at her. "And thank you on the latter."

She looked at him and couldn't help but smile at the look of pride on his face. She looked back at the screen as the story arc played out with animation. "You're a good teacher," she told him casually.

"Ah, but you have much promise, padouin," he said in a false serious tone.

She glanced at him and found herself chuckling at the look on his face. "And yet, strangely, the look of serious sage teacher does _not_ become you."

He visibly deflated, then just as quickly, grinned a silly grin. "It was worth it, though," he said turning back to the screen as the game play part began.

She watched him for a few more moments, wondering. She heard the game begin and turned back to it, as well. _'Worth it?'_ she wondered. She managed to keep from asking, even though the question was still there throughout the rest of that round, but when they came across the next puzzle and her mind couldn't focus on trying to solve it, she knew that she had to ask. "What was worth it?"

He didn't look at her. He must have been wondering if she was going to ask because he didn't seem surprised or confused. "Your smile," he answered as he worked the control to get them into position before the two large doors that was the next puzzle. She thought he wasn't going to answer anything else and honestly, she hadn't even been thinking of how to prompt any further response…she was too shocked. He glanced at her and offered her a small smile of his own. "Just about anything's worth it if it'll make you smile," he said casually.

"_One of these doors leads to the next level and one of them leads to certain death…"_

The voice on the screen drew their attention and Raven turned to the screen to find that the wood of the two doors had morphed so that there was a gargoyle like face on each one.

"_You may question naught but one of us and have only one question to ask…" _the other gargoyle added.

"_One of us shall tell the truth and one of us tells naught but lies…"_ the first gargoyle finished.

Raven shook her head. "This is an easy one," she announced as the question choices came up on the screen.

Robin thought about saying something else and his finger lingered over the pause button, but Raven wasn't looking at him and the moment was passed.

"Go to the one on the left," she instructed.

"I always hate these kind of questions…" he looked at her. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Positive," she pointed. "Left."

"You don't even want to ask?"

"We're going to ask the one on the left."

"Okay…" he sighed and instructed his character to the door and gargoyle on the left.

The gargoyle looked at him. _"What dost ye wish to know?"_ it asked in an ominously monotone voice as a new series of questions popped up on the screen for them to choose.

Raven read through them quickly. "Ask him whether or not the gargoyle on the right would tell us that the door on the left leads to the next level."

Robin frowned. "Isn't that kinda convoluted?" he pressed.

She nodded. "But it'll work." She looked at him and smiled a little again. "Trust me."

He grinned and looked back at the screen, picking the answer she insisted on. "That smile's gonna be the death of me, I swear…" he mumbled under his breath as they waited.

Raven blinked at him and didn't know what to say. He wasn't looking at her, instead looking at as the program ran through the question and gargoyle went through the motions of thinking out the question. He didn't seem to be expecting her to comment. Which was good, because she didn't know what to comment.

On the screen, the gargoyle seemed to think about it for a moment before it replied succinctly, _"Yes." _

They were now left with the options of which door to chose and Robin still couldn't figure out which one it was. He looked at her. "Now what?"

"The door on the right leads to the next level," she answered surely.

He turned to look at her. "Now, how can you know that?" he demanded. He pointed to the game. "What if the gargoyle on the right is the one that would tell the truth?"

She looked smug. "Then the gargoyle on the left _wouldn't_ be telling the truth," she explained. "And if he said the gargoyle on the right would say yes, it would be no."

Robin frowned harder. "But what if the gargoyle on the left is the one telling the truth?"

She leaned back. "Then because the gargoyle on the left is telling the truth only to what the gargoyle on the right would say, and since if the left one is telling the truth, the right one has to be lying, the answer would still be no."

He blinked and scratched at the back of his head. "Oookay…" he had a general grasp that what she said should make sense, but he wasn't altogether sure.

"Take the door on the right," she told him.

"What if you're wrong?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Then we'll die a horrible death," she said simply.

"Oh, good," he said with false happiness. "So long as we've got that cleared up."

Robin was tense as he walked their characters through but Raven was secure in her choice. So secure that when they came through into a new building, the next level, unscathed, she actually looked pleased with herself.

Grinning to himself, Robin shrugged as he saved the game. "Lucky guess," he mumbled.

"Lucky!" she demanded instantly. "We'd be there until next week if I wouldn't have known how to get through it."

He turned to look at her to retort. Ultimately, that was heir downfall, for before he could string two syllables together, the attack zombies had reached them and supped on their brains.

Robin and Raven turned to look at the gloating King Goblin over the bright red 'GAME OVER' sign and Robin's jaw dropped. "Aw, man! We got so far!" he whined.

Raven was so surprised that she actually almost laughed. And even though it was only the first 'ha' of 'ha-ha', Robin caught it and turned to glare at her.

"Not my fault," she said seriously. She started to back away a little, inching back from his slowly advancing form. He had that unreadable expression on his face. "Robin," she said warningly. "Now, you know it wasn't…"

She saw it on his face mere moments before he pounced and managed to roll out of the way, standing easily and stepping back as he also stood and advanced.

"Oh, you _so_ owe me!" he exclaimed, a wicked gleam in his eyes.

She didn't want to think what his payback would be…maybe making her sit through hours and hours of playing one of the other games…or, horror of horrors, having to eat BeastBoy's tofu. "I got us through the doors!" she said soothingly. "Doesn't that count?"

He looked slightly mollified and a little guilty as he realized he couldn't exactly blame her and he sighed. "Fine," he said, starting to sit back on the sofa.

Raven nodded and wiped at some dust on her cloak. "It's not my fault you got us killed," she said casually as she wiped.

The result was immediate. Robin was instantly tensed and ready to strike. "_I…?_" he exclaimed. Raven 'eeped' internally. "You little!" in an instant, he was up off the couch and she was n the air. "Come down here and fight fair!" he demanded.

She would've responded, too, except that just at that moment the door opened and Cyborg and BeastBoy walked in.

Robin watched as her face changed from the playful mischievousness to a slightly secretive smile before she glanced meaningfully at him. He relaxed and shrugged and she floated back to the ground.

"Dude!" That monster truck show was wicked cool!" Cyborg was announcing as he removed monster truck rally hats and foam fingers from his person.

"The cars were all _'help me!' _as Carzilla went all _'ROAR VROOOOM!'_ and crushed them to smithereens!" BB agreed happily.

"I guess that translates to meaning you had a good time?" Raven drolled as she picked up her book casually.

"Awesome!" BB admitted.

"Good," Raven said, smiling just the teensiest bit.

"How 'bout you guys?" Cyborg asked.

"Good," Robin answered. "I only got to level 7 on Goblin King III," he admitted with a shrug.

"Only!" Cy asked. "Dude, you're loosing your touch!"

"Are you kidding?" Robin challenged. "It was tough! Those puzzles are killers!"

"Ah, you're a woos," Cyborg said dismissively.

"Says Mr. I Only Got To Level Three," Robin shot back.

"Only cause I didn't have as much time as you to play it!" Cyborg assured.

"So what's stopping you now?" Robin lifted a brow in challenge, noticing out of the corner of his eye as Raven started to walk out of the room.

"Fine, I will," Cyborg announced as he sat on the couch and took up the control, fighting with BB over who got to be the leader of the team.

And as much as she thought he might not have noticed, Robin shifted casually and suddenly, she could not leave without pass by him.

Their eyes met. "You owe me," he said, his voice low for only her to hear.

"Yes, about that…" she looked actually just a little bit guilty. "Sorry you only got to level 7."

He grinned suddenly. "That's alright, cause you're making it up to me tomorrow after dinner," he told her surely. She raised her eyebrow. "You think we're not going to beat their score?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I thought it wasn't a competition game?"

He grinned even wider. "It isn't…not between us…but they're a whole 'nother matter."

She smiled a little then. "Think they'll beat our score?" she asked in a conspiratory whisper.

He looked pensive. "Maybe," he watched as her look turned serious.

"Sorry…really," she said. "If it wouldn't have been because you had to teach me, you probably would've beaten the game by now."

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter…" he looked at her. "I still say it was worth it," he said sincerely.

She chuckled and walked away, shaking her head.

When he realized that Cyborg and BB had gotten quiet and that the game hadn't started yet, he turned to them, concerned that they might've been listening in on his and Raven's conversation, but he found them staring in shock at the screen instead. Momentarily, he was relieved. That is, until he noticed what it was they were staring at.

The screen was still flashing the _"Game Over_" sequence, but now, under it, it had a new question, _"Robin & Raven, do you wish to tempt your fates again?"_

Robin realized what was surprising his friends and winced. 'Damn,' he thought. He wondered if he might be able to get out of the room before they recovered enough to bombard him with questions, and cursed the fact that he had let Raven go before they got caught.

"Raven was _playing!"_ BB exclaimed before Robin could take three steps toward the door.

Raven meanwhile had stopped halfway to her room and remembered at just that moment that they had entered both their names at the game prompt. She heard BB's surprised exclamation and winced.

'I'm _never_ going to live this down,' she thought as she entered her room. She briefly wondered what explanation Robin might offer, then shrugged as she realized that she didn't really care.

It _had_ been worth it.

_xxxxxxx_

**A/N:** Okay, first of all, I will say that I know absolutely nothing about these games. I'm rather like Raven in that sense; I won't really play the role play games and the fight games only if I'm exceedingly bored. My brother and best friend and former boyfriends have all been HUGE gamers though so although I am not up to date on what the current game trends are, I have seen a few of them played. SO…that said…the game that they're playing is totally _made up_. I'm sure it might sound like something some of you might have played at some point of your lives and that's probably because subconsciously I took bits and pieces of several games I'd seen in my life. The basic concept of a joined game fighting zombies comes from the only game I am actually pretty good at and enjoy playing at _Dave & Busters_ when we go called _House of the Dead_ (I think that's the name…could be wrong) only you get one of those guns to shoot them, but the concept that you work in a team with a partner I got it from there. And also a really really _really_ old game that I don't even remember the name of whose theme was military in nature.

If anyone can name for me where the whole thing with the two doors one which leads to 'certain death' came from, I'll give you a cookie. I actually wanted to put in a puzzle somewhat like that and although I remembered a bit the way the logic went, I really can never remember it completely, so I had to put on the movie to get the logic for it. Hehe. Here's a hint: in the movie, it's not a gargoyle on the door, what's standing before it is a life sized version of one of the cards in a deck of cards. (Don't remember the card…hehehe…) Oh and there's another reference to something from that same movie in this too, so if you can get those, I'll give you a cookie too. (If you get them both, just imagine! Two virtual cookies! Yayness!)

Second, about the writing itself: Jurodan made a comment in his review of Part I of this series. He said that Raven was leading the game, the dance between them two and I realized that it was true. That in most of what I wrote, Raven seemed to always be the one with the upper hand, so to speak. And so I wondered why that was. Turns out, I just couldn't picture Robin's personality as the type to initiate any kind of teasing between them, just because I couldn't picture him as the type who would really try to press her in something like this unless she started it. But then this idea struck me. Mostly, because this would be, I thought, something that Raven never wants to do, says she doesn't like, but I think if they asked her why, and she had to answer truthfully, she'd have two answers: 1. because none of the games interested her and 2. because she had never played and wasn't good at them. Then I thought that this would be the perfect scenario to have a chance for Robin to sort of tease her innocently a little, because she's already kinda off balance. I guess I felt it would be a pretty innocent, sweet way of showing him kinda taking control of the situation.

I don't know that I really showed that. If you guys think I did or didn't, then please let me know.

**Thanks:** First of all, thank you to everyone who reviewed and who seems eager to read the next installment. I hope you enjoyed Part II.

I think that for this series of vignettes, I'm not really going to answer every person personally. But if someone reviews with something that I particularly want to address, I will. Is that okay with you guys? I always feel bad if I can't respond individually, but if all goes according to plan, these should be quickies, and I don't want to devote too much time to them. So, for now, the few people that either asked something directly or to whom I need to make a direct response:

_Boballina:_ I see what you mean. I'll look it over and see if I can make it a little less cumbersome. Thanks for the input! Glad you liked it overall, anyway!

_Jurodan:_ I hate FFN. I really do. It keeps doing that to my words. I don't know why. As to Raven's sleeping attire, I realized that the other day when I saw Fear Itself again, so you're right that she probably does, but considering that I also agree with you that it would be _very_ uncomfortable, I will not be putting her in her leotard to sleep. I know it's not consistent with canon, but screw it. The one purposeful inconsistency. (GRIN) I feel very defiant and proud.

Heh…poor BeastBoy…but isn't he just the type to give those kinds of gifts? That was kinda inspired by a boss/friend I have who while I worked for him would give out themed gifts to everyone on xmas. So, one year he gave everyone movies and he gave them movies based on his perception of their personality. It was kinda fun. (except I got Matilda…the kids movie…O.o ) But I got the idea that one xmas, Beast Boy would be the type to decide to give everyone pjs for xmas. Hmm…now I wonder what pjs he would've given to Cyborg and Starfire. LOL I wanna say Strawberry Shortcake for Star. Hot Wheels for Cyborg. Or, if he would've kept the theme as the superheroes, how about Supergirl for Star no, not flakey enough…how about Bubbles from Powerpuff Girls? Oh, yeah…that would fit her. And for Cy…hm….well…Cy doesn't really need pjs, does he? Damn.

No Shards of Hope! NOOOOOOO! But I understand…trust me, I understand. I started reading Raven's Destiny, and OMG…you're right! It's a great Rae/Rob beginning! I couldn't get passed the first chapter though, because although it's really good, the writing sucks me in and makes me forget that I should be studying for my last final on Tuesday. But I am itching to get back to it with more time to devote to it. (It's the kind of story that I _know_ is going to suck me up in its grasp and not let me go until I have read each and every chapter you posted.) So, yah, I'm not letting myself read it until I've done with studying and finals (and the final revision of my paper).

_Mattb3671: _Yeah, I know. Chandler. The funny thing is that this was inspired by the fact that I myself had the dream Raven talks about. :P And I woke up after the dream at like 3 in the morning, thought about it for a moment, and just had myself a good laugh for like three minutes before I fell back to sleep. Anyway, I thought it would be a sufficiently scary dream for her to tell. Especially since everyone always expects her dreams to be all apocalyptic. So I felt like being silly. (shrug)

_Darkofthenight:_ Romance is probably going to be kinda sparse between them for most of these. Maybe just insinuations. Until probably the ones I sense are the near the end.

_Water81:_ I tried to make him seem a little out of it cause of the sleepiness, but I don't know that it came out that way. (shrug) Oh, well.


	3. III: Cups

**EDIT: May 22, 2005  
**Okay, Jurodan reviewed this chapter with some mistakes I made that really embarrassed me, so not only have I asked him to be my official TT Beta, but now that I had a spare moment (when I should be sleeping, actually, but oh well) I went back and changed the grievous spelling and grammar mistakes I had made in this rather slapdash post. It's minor things, nothing of the flow of the story has been changed, so if you've already read it, you don't have to go through it again.

Sorry it's taken me a bit longer than I promised to get the next vignette out, but I might actually be posting a new vignette for this story and an independent (kinda silly) one-shot really close to each other soon. Thanks for all the reviews, everyone!

Oh! And keep a look out to my livejournal account. I'm throwing around the idea of having some 'deleted scenes' posted up on there. (Again, the idea for it came cause of what Jurodan commented about in his review…he wondered what Raven's response would've been to Speedy's gift mug and my muse smirked and would love to write a quickie snippet as to how that gift giving happened) I'll let you know in the next update if I do it.  
**End EDIT Update**

**A/N:** This is a little different than the others. It goes a bit into his introspection. But we do have the good ole Rob/Rae interaction near the end!

Oh…and I got my first Rob/Star flamer. Not a real bad one, mind you. Mild, really, but I feel as if I've been initiated now into the ranks of true Rob/Rae shippers!

_xxxxxxxx_

_**It Only Takes A Moment  
**_**_Part III: Cups  
_**_**By Em**_

"_And if you won't see me / I don't know what to do / But oh keep watching you / Until I see right through / Oh I keep watching you"  
_- Watching You, Melissa Etheridge

'_This is really getting out of hand,'_ he thought and stared at the contents of the cupboard in the left hand corner. His eyes flicked from a stylized skyline of Jump City (complete with Titans Tower in the distance) to an add proclaiming the wonders of "The South Seas" complete with picture of shore and hammock. Even the one with the cow holding a sign that read 'Eat more veggies!' peeked out at him from the second shelf. The entire cupboard was full. Brim to brim.

And he supposed it _was_ all his fault. Well, he had probably started it anyway.

But was it his fault that he had noticed it how when the others had strayed to gawk and ogle over the magazine rack as they waited for their order, she had strayed surprisingly _not_ to the reading material but to the shelves of logo based merchandise the Java Café sold at questionable prices?

'_No,'_ he decided. It certainly was not his fault. And it wasn't his fault that he noticed her look through the ceramic mugs either. And even less was it his fault if he could read by her facial expressions which ones she liked and which ones she was really tempted to buy.

And, really, that he noticed that she _didn't_ buy the one that she had been clearly tempted to and obviously wanted could not be helped.

So, if he ended up returning to the same coffee shop for another cup of coffee himself the next day and his eyes _happened_ to catch sight of the mug sitting there innocuously so that he could do nothing BUT buy it for her, could he really be blamed? He didn't think so.

And, ultimately, that he had to give it to her in front of everyone was _certainly_ not his fault. He could not be blamed for the fact that he hadn't been able to catch her alone when he walked in with the wrapped bundle.

She had been about as emotional as she usually was (which was practically blank) as she received the package, but when she opened it…for a split second when she saw the picture of the mug looking back at her, she hadn't been able to hold back the surprise and yes, even the pleasure. She had been so unable to hold back her emotions, in fact, that the others had noticed.

So, really, when he thought about it, it was her own fault if the others had suddenly found something that they could give her and that she was obviously pleased with. So, if the others took to giving her mugs left and right, well…_so_ not his fault.

And the thing was she used each and every one. Sure, she had a few favorites that she frequented (the 'I'm open to suggestions, just not taking them' mug that BeastBoy had given her being one of her usual favorites on a day to day basis and the 'Witches Brew' one that Starfire gave her being her early morning tea favorite most mornings) but on the whole, each of the dozens of mugs that his eyes fell on had been pressed to her lips at some time or other.

He supposed it was her way of thanking them for thinking of her. Because it had no longer become something that she was given on Christmas or a special occasion. No, it had stopped being a special occasion kind of gift about the time that Cyborg had brought her the 'From the Headquarters of the National Waffle Association' complete with NWA crest mug a random day a few months ago just because he had seen it and couldn't help himself. Now, there was not a month that passed that she didn't get at least one mug from someone who saw one and thought she would like it and just randomly bought it for her.

Eventually, even the Titans East had taken to the habit.

His eyes easily found the yellow 'Bibliophile' mug Bumble Bee had gotten her a few weeks ago and he grinned at the comic picture of the girl overloaded with books with too large glasses grinning back at him. When his sight trailed past that one, though, he was hard pressed to withhold a growl as his eyes fell on the black mug with the red, 'Goths do it in the dark' mug. Speedy thought he was so funny, but it was really just lewd-- and that she used it almost every Sunday morning, well…that meant nothing.

Very quickly, it had become a thing. If you saw a mug that she'd like, you'd get it for her. That simple. And although he was glad the others had found a way to relate to her, he felt slightly miffed that they had taken _his_ way.

And of course, he had failed to notice how very many of them there were now.

He counted at least 10 in the front of the pile on both shelves. And although he moved them a little and strained and looked, the one he didn't see, no matter how he looked, was his. The one he had started it all with and the only one he'd given her was _not_ in the cupboard. Once it had become everyone's thing, he had refused to be like them and had never given her another. (Even though he had gone back to the store and seen new ones he thought she might like.) The idea of being just like everyone else took away its appeal.

When had he first realized that he hadn't noticed her drinking from it? How long had that first one, the one that started the whole mess, not been there?

Had it broken? Had she lost it? Had she thrown it away?

"What are you doing?"

Only practice kept him from jumping out of his skin.

"Raven!" he exclaimed anyway as he turned to look at her, his mind whirring to find an excuse, any excuse, as to what he was doing looking into her cupboard.

She raised a brow, leaning a little against the edge of the counter, looking at him. "Robin," she greeted, clearly seeing his greeting for what it was…a bid for time.

"Hi!" he said with overt cheerfulness. He almost winced when he realized he sounded a bit like Starfire.

"Well," the other brow joined the first. "Now that those pleasantries are over with and we've established who we are…" she said conversationally. "Shall we move on to what you're doing?"

Any credible lie faltering, he went with the obvious truth, "Looking at your mugs."

A nerve at her forehead twitched just barely. "I can see that much," she said, cocking her head and narrowing her eyes. "The implied question was, why?"

"Eh…" he was out. He, himself, didn't know what had prompted him to open up _her_ cupboard and look at them. Maybe it had been the mug with the ugly looking Squirrel on it that proclaimed, 'Do NOT anger the master!' that Cyborg had given her the night before which had made her smirk. Maybe it had made him realize he hadn't seen the one he had given her for some time and for some reason, as he had seen her talk with Cyborg about the genius of 'Foamy' (which he had learned was the name of the demented squirrel), it had bothered him.

The one he gave her was almost a year old. _'Maybe it had broken,'_ he thought.

Her eyes, meanwhile, had narrowed. "Did Beast Boy send you to pull one of his pranks?"

He blinked, pulled out of his own thoughts by the accusation. 'Prank?' He would never… "No!" he defended immediately. "Why would…I wouldn't…" he glared at her. "I wouldn't play a prank on you!" he finally managed a coherent thought.

She looked only partly convinced. "Then?"

She wasn't going to let him out of explaining why he was there. "I just was wondering how many you had now?" That was as good an excuse as any.

"Forty-one…" she stopped herself. "Actually, forty-two, now," she answered.

"Oh," he turned back to the cabinet and realized forty-two seemed about right. He wouldn't ask if that was forty-two counting with his or without. He wouldn't. But she was still staring at him, probably still wondering.

"I haven't seen mine in a while," he said as casually as he could, turning back to her.

She raised an eyebrow again.

"I mean, with so many, but if it broke or something…"

"Yours?" she interrupted his haphazard explanations. "Why would any of your personal mugs be in my cabinet?" she asked. "Last time I saw that red one with the R on it the city gave you it was in the dishwasher."

He blinked. "Wha-?" he realized she had misunderstood. "No," he shook his head. "Not _mine_…the mug I got you…with the picture of Dali's 'Persistence of Memory' on it."

It was her turn to look confused.

And he felt silly. "I just haven't seen you use it in a while," he tried to excuse, trying to make it casual, unimportant, by his shrug and his voice. He didn't think it worked.

She stepped away from the counter and her left hand was suddenly visible where it held a mug at her side.

A mug with the painting of melting clocks and a barren landscape. "You mean _this_ one?" she asked, raising it to eye level by the handle.

'_She had been using it!'_ He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah…I thought…"

She walked to the kitchen and proceeded to wash the cup.

"So you had it…?" he pressed.

"In my room," she answered before he could finish the question. Her eyes remained on the cup as she wiped it with the sudsy sponge, cleaning it out. "Beast Boy tends to hide them so I keep it with me overnight," was all she offered as explanation. He watched as her hands washed the suds off and they seemed gentle. She still hadn't looked up at him. "I like to have water next to my bed anyway," she offered casually.

"Oh," he repeated intelligently. And it made sense why he hadn't seen it around if she tended to keep it by her bed. It also made sense why she didn't use it for coffee or tea if she used it for water. It all made wonderful sense. He was just glad she hadn't thrown it out.

"It's silly to keep and care for them so much, isn't it?" she asked conversationally, her eyes still on the cup in the sink under the water. "But each one's…" she trailed of and turned off the tap, grabbing a paper towel, "I don't know, a testament to the way my friends see me, I guess," she continued. He wanted to tell her that it wasn't silly, but was surprised she was offering so much information and half afraid that if he said a word she would realize she wasn't alone or that it was him that was there and stop talking. "its proof that they know something about me and that they think about me…" she glanced up at him.

"As much as we can," he finally spoke with some semblance of intelligence. "And more if you would let us."

She sighed as she dried out the cup. "Have you noticed that none of the other cups have any art on them?" she asked as she turned the cup this way and that, presumably looking for dirt or something he couldn't see.

"They probably haven't realized what art you like yet," he answered. "Art is so subjective, it's hard to give someone a piece of art without knowing exactly what they like."

She finally looked up at him, raising the mug between them so that only Dali's painting stared back at them. "True," she answered before shifting the cup so that she was suddenly looking at him again. "You noticed, though."

He flushed. "I saw you looking at it," he offered by way of explanation.

She nodded, accepting and casual. "Yes, I know," she agreed, starting to walk out of the kitchen with the empty and clean mug. "You _saw_ me," she said as she passed, their shoulders barely grazing.

He realized immediately what she meant. The others might know in general terms what she liked and what would make her smile or bring her amusement, but they knew only what she had showed them. Not what they had noticed about her themselves. Not what she had divulged without knowing she had divulged it. Not what they had realized just by watching her.

At the elevator, her hand wrapped casually around the mug, she turned back to him. "Thanks."

She didn't wait for any further comment from him but walked back to her room as casually as ever.

And he realized that although she was always appreciative of the mugs and had always used them and seemed pleased by the gifts she had never really _thanked_ any of them…

None of them…

Except him.

_xxxxxxx_

**A/N:** This came from looking up into my kitchen cabinets and seeing how I had so many mugs for coffee. And I started thinking, what would Raven collect? And the obvious answer of course being that _she_ doesn't collect anything, but that she would like cups for her tea seemed a natural assumption. But of course, she wouldn't go out buying a gazillion of them. But what if someone saw her _looking_ at them? The rest, as they say, is history. I started to realize how when people find out that you like something, they pretty much make your collection for you. For me, it's Betty Boop and Tinkerbell. People know I love them, so whenever they see some random item from either of those two, they buy it for me and just give it to me for no reason. Oh, and the coffee cup thing: I have like 10 different mugs in my cabinets and I use each one for something different. And people just keep giving me more. It's really cute, though, so I don't mind. Anyway, that's how this one came up.  
As to where I got the ideas for the cups and the logos…you know how it happens that you see something a gazillion times and don't pay that much attention to it and then when you're searching for it, you can't find the bloody thing? Well, that's what happened to me. Some of these slogans, then, I took from shirts on Hot Topic, some from stuff at Urban Outfitters…I think that Foamy one is a button or something at Hot Topic. The mug Speedy gets her I made up. Oh, and BB's mug, I made that one up too. It's lame enough.  
**Thanks**: **_First_**, THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed! You're all fantabulous! You make my day, my week! **_Second_**, several people got the movie from the doors. **_Merciful Sky_** being the first to review with it, so she gets the best virtual cookies in the batch. (throws out chocolate chip cookie with the BIG chips in it, still warm from the virtual oven). **_Stormy Summers _**also got it and because she gave me such a good laugh with remembering David Bowie and his oh, so delicious attire in the movie, she gets a double chocolate cookie. Mmmmm…about as good as David in those pants, huh? **_Sarah Cabbage Patch _**also got it so you get a cookie, too! Good going, guys! Oh, and the movie was "_Labyrinth"_The other reference to the movie was the title of the game, Goblin King III. Jareth (David Bowie's character in the movie) is the Goblin King who lives in the castle at the center of the Labyrinth and who takes Sarah's baby brother, Toby. Damn…I wish all Goblin Kings looked like that. I had _such_ a crush on him when I was a kid! ANYWAY…  
_Ainominako:_ Squishy is good, yes? I don't usually do such lighthearted squishiness, so please feel free to let me know if the level of squishiness is adequate. (grin)  
_Dark-Magic67:_ I think that kisses are something that should happen only when the characters are ready for them. (Or out of the blue in order to shock the living daylights out of the other person and cause more havoc for the plotline.) But I don't think on the whole, that kisses are 'the end' to stories. Sometimes, they're just the beginning! This series I'm trying to explore a little more about their relationship than just the kissy parts, though, so…(shrug) thanks for thinking that it didn't need the kiss at the end!  
_Sarah Cabbage Patch:_ I used to have TONS of Cabbage Patches! OMG…what memories! (thinks) I'm _so_ old…(cries)Since you're a huge fan of RxR, have you been over to the livejournal community that I list on my profile page? They're really pretty good. They got a listing of a story listing of RxR stories on FFN updated as of March 17th. They're going to re-update it soon, I think. But anyway, it's a pretty good community! If you're not familiar with it, you should join! (takes off recruiter hat) Thanks for the compliments!  
_Mysti-eyed:_ First, I want to thank you for being so nice about asking for the update. (grin) Second, I must admit that the idea of them playing a game together and Robin teaching her actually came from the way I fell in love with my own first love. Long story. But the first guy I ever crushed on really badly was the son of a friend of the family, a guy that saw me looking bored and lost at my cousin's house, while he was playing a game and he taught me how to play it so that I wouldn't be bored. I think a part of me still loves him for it. (nostalgic GRIN) So, yeah, it wasn't an original idea, but I'm glad that people enjoyed it and found it as touching as I did!  
_Tecna:_ (quoting Joe from Meet Joe Black) I not evil, woman! I think to continue the story from there would get into more kinda filler stuff and since I wanted to keep these kind of significant one-shots, I didn't. I was tempted actually to write about the next day after dinner scene, but I can't think of any particular plot for it, so I don't think it's gonna happen. Maybe I'll refer to it in another one of the one-shots at some time. (shrug) Sorry, though. And thanks, for the review.  
_Jurodan:_ (blushes) I remember when I was little, I used to learn new vocabulary words from the television or from what I was reading at the time and use it in the wrong ways in conversation just cause I wanted to insert it in conversation. (teehee) Anyway, thank you. I have always loved language, so it's good to know that some people think I do a pretty good job of playing with it.  
That she calls her book lame I tried to use as her attempt at excusing her decision to join him in the game. Like she didn't really _want_ to play the game, but she was bored cause the book wasn't holding her interest. I see what you mean, though and you're right and now that's bothering me. Hmmm…maybe I can think of something else to have her say?  
About her "Titans, GO!" remark: (giggle) I guess she was a bit mean. But I just _couldn't_ help myself. It was funny because as I was writing it, I thought he would say Titans Go and when he didn't I couldn't help but having Raven comment on it. (And yes, sometimes the characters tell me what they want to have written about them…and yes, I know I'm strange…)  
Aw, gods…don't even remind me about that movie. As you can see, it's inbred into my very marrow. The same brother, best friend, former boyfriends that are/have been gamers are also HUGE Star Wars fanatics. (I've been hearing the Episode III trailer for _months_…yes…hearing, because my best friend plays it for me over the phone…waits for it…_yes…over the _phone.)  
BB's comment: Another instance where the characters just came into the scene with their dialogue already ready and practically typed. (shrugs) I had absolutely nothing to do with it. (points to BB) All his fault.  
Terminology: Heh…yeah, probably cause I have had no choice but to pay attention. (If I zone out or ignore them, they'll only repeat it. And _keep_ repeating it until I get it.) Not that I mind…I love the RPG games because they tell a story, y'know? But I still suck at them.  
Movie: It was _Labyrinth_. If you haven't seen it, I really recommend it. It's an old like 80s movie with Jim Henson puppets, David Bowie in tight pants and big hair, music, singing, and the girl who won the Oscar for Beautiful Mind in her first movie when she was 16. But it's really fun. (GRIN)  
Robin: Yeah, that's the conclusion I came to. But now I'm having a bit of a trouble trying to find instances where he takes the initiative. Cause I don't always want to show her as the strong one or the initiator either. Hmm…  
Finals are DONE. Thesis is DONE. Lawschool is DONE! Woot! (At least, it's done if I passed all my classes and my professor likes the Thesis enough to give it a C or better.) I did quote your disclaimer on there, so I'll let you know when and where I post it. I think it's probably going to go into my scraps on deviantArt. Don't know yet.  
_Stormy Summers:_ See above for your cookie. (grin) And thank _you_ for making me remember David Bowie in his tight, tight pants. (wickedGLEAM).  
_Rinagurl13:_ Thank you. I'm particularly worried about writing comedy. I usually drift toward angst. So thanks! I'm glad it went over well!


	4. IV: Pasghetti

**MAJOR EDITAGE**: I was so harrangued when I completed this last night and when I realized I couldn't post it because of the swine bug that made me have to figure out that I had to save it as an html before FFN would let me upload it to the site, that I _totally_ forgot to give up some **_MAJOR_** prop-age to **_Jurodan_, **the ABSOLUTE BEST, most patient, honest, and just all around GOOD TT Beta reader that could possibly exist. (No offense to other TT Beta readers out there...) He really worked on this chapter a lot and I think by the end, I was so crazy about just posting it and getting it out there, and I know I mentioned how he edited this before, BUT, just in case, he worked really hard and devoted a lot of time to this chapter, so Jurodan, ((BIG hug)) thanks a bunch! You're da best! ((BIG GRIN))  
p.s.: Go read his stuff! You won't regret it! He's on my fav author list and my current obsession is with his _Shards of Hope_. (It's what finally got me hooked on TT fic, to be honest...and why I wrote out _Tried and_ _Tested_ because I had just read his story and couldn't get the characters out of my head.)  
**A/N:** Quick note before the story: This is rather long and it's not as funny as I wish it would've been. Also, we get a glimpse of the other Titans' interaction with the Birds near the end. (Well, most of them anyway).  
**Disclaimer:** No more mine now than they were when I first started this thing. Get with the program, people!

_xxxxxx_

**_It Only Takes A Moment  
_****_Part IV: Pasghetti  
_****_By Em_**

_xxxxx_

_"Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food."  
- _Hippocrates

She got as far as chopping the onions into fine little bits before one of her friends found their way into the kitchen. She knew, of course, what was going to come (and her being slightly psychic had nothing to do with it) but she didn't even bother to look up from the smooth cutting motion of the large knife on the wooden chopping board.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him walking slowly as he took in the sight of the three pots simmering on the stove, their lids covering their contents from view. Luckily, she had learned the trick about cutting out the heart of the onion before you chopped it so that it didn't make you cry, otherwise, she'd have to face him with a puffy face and teary eyes.

Finally making it to her side, he stood next to her and leaned his hip against the sink. "What are you doing?"

She looked up momentarily from the small pile of diced onions on the board, the knife stilling, "I would think it's pretty obvious," she spoke, the look on her face clearly implying she thought he was just a little daft merely for having had to ask; even if she knew he would.

Robin blinked for a moment, beginning to take in the full package, not just the pots on the stove, but also the various condiments spread out, the chopping board and the knife in her hand, her hair picked up in a loose ponytail at her nape and finally, the white chef's apron tied around her waist.

To her utter surprise, he chuckled. "Okay," he conceded. "Let me rephrase that…" he looked at her, amused. "_Why_ are you cooking?"

She shook her head and turned back to the onions, chopping up the last few slices. "Only in this house is someone ever asked why they're cooking," she mused aloud. She moved to one of the pots at her side and dumped the onions into it, glancing back at him as she moved past him to get to the sink. "Why does _anyone_ cook?" she asked rhetorically.

He raised an eyebrow. "Now you're just being difficult."

She rinsed the knife and cutting board and went back to the pot that was next to the stove. After a brief inspection, she began to mix the ingredients she had previously added and after a quick few strokes of the mixing spoon she placed it on the final burner with a practiced flourish. Once done, she wiped her hands on the dishtowel hanging from the band around her apron and flashed him a quick grin. "I got tired of take-out," she finally answered. "Aren't you?" she countered and shrugged before he could answer. "It's always the same thing…pizza or Chinese or…" she allowed herself a small shiver, "Señor Tofu…"

He started to nod, when apparently, the smell hit him and his stomach growled in automatic response. His eyes glazed over and he turned to the stove, being drawn to it like a moth to a flame. "That smells…" he inhaled a big lungful, "…delicious," he decided. "What is it?"

She shrugged nonchalantly and pointed to the pot closest to her with the large knife. "Meat sauce with tomatoes, basil and a little garlic," she said casually. She managed to ignore his stunned look and pointed the knife to the next pot which happened to be the pot she had just put on the stove. "This is the meat for the meat sauce," she explained. "Ground beef independently seasoned and cooked just enough to take in the flavors of the spices."

He pointed to the pot on the back left side burner which seemed to be the biggest one of the four but it had a lid and he couldn't see. "What's in here?" he asked.

She shrugged. "As of right now, nothing, just a little water, butter, and salt ready to boil at a low heat."

He looked confused. "Huh?"

"It's for the pasta," she explained. "But I can't put the actual pasta in until the meat's done because the pasta doesn't take very long to cook."

She could feel the slight confusion coming from him as she explained the various pots and realized almost immediately why it was so confusing to him. No one in Titan Tower had ever seen her cook.

"I didn't know you knew how to cook," he verbalized.

She shrugged. "It's not a big meal or anything," she replied. "Just spaghetti with meat sauce."

"You've never cooked before," he continued, still amazed.

And again, she shrugged. "You've never asked before."

He narrowed his eyes and it was obvious to her that as nonchalant as she had tried to be about the whole thing, he had caught on to something and wouldn't let it go until he found out. 'Well…' she thought. She _had_ known she would draw attention as soon as she started cooking. Even though, when she thought about it, she had hoped that it would be someone who wouldn't have asked so many questions or been so suspicious that had found her, she also knew that it could very easily be much worse.

"None of us asked this time either," he pointed out the weakness to her counter.

"I already said I couldn't take take-out one more night," she replied weakly.

The gears shifting in his mind were so obvious to her that she knew, without having to consider reading his mind or opening herself up to his emotions, that he was considering whether to leave her flimsy excuse alone or pursue it like the proverbial dog with a bone.

She turned around and uncovered one of the pots nearest to her, stirring it with a wooden spoon. She brought the spoon out of the pot, a small bit of red sauce on the tip and placed no more than a drop of it on her tongue, tasting it. For a moment, her expression was far away as her taste buds worked around the small sample she had taken, working through the taste to decide what, if anything, was missing. When she decided, she walked around him to the counter where the spices were and sought out the salt. Triumphant, she walked back with it to the pot and tipped a small amount onto her palm, eyeballing the amount with a keen and watchful eye. Once she was satisfied, she flipped her hand and the small salt crystals fell and were subsumed by the heated sauce.

"What's in that one?" he pointed.

She looked at the pot on the back right hand burner and made a face. "Meat _substitute_ sauce…" she said monotonously, but with just a hint of something that made it sound as if she had just refrained from adding an 'ech' onto the end of that. "I am avoiding smelling it though…" she paused. "And _tasting_…definitely not tasting it either…so I don't know how it'll come out…"

His eyes widened. She was making food so Beast Boy could eat too? He was at first surprised, then pleased that she would be considerate enough, liking the idea of doing something for their friend, then came the nip of jealousy. Why was she cooking for Beast Boy? The Titans rarely cooked and when they did, it was usually no more than the person cooking at the time required for themselves. (With the exception of Cyborg, of course, who could occasionally be prevailed upon to cook something other than the 'Chili Con Carne Con Carne' or waffles which were his specialties.) And other than take-out, where each of them could order whatever they wanted, cooking one meal for everyone was really too hard to even consider. And yet here she was, cooking not only for herself, but for Beast Boy as well? He hated to think what that meant. Hell, he hated to think what it meant that he didn't want to think what it meant.

His frown, even if he thought he was hiding it, was blatantly obvious to Raven. She did not, however, know what had put it there. And she didn't know how to ask about it, either.

So instead, she walked to the sink and had to nudge him out of the way to get at it. Then, grabbing the newly rinsed measuring cup she once again nudged him out of the way to reach for the olive oil in the cupboard before which he had repositioned himself. This time, when she nudged him out of the way, he moved only to stand before the drawer with the spoon she would need to stir the oil into the sauce. Luckily, he knew better than to position himself before the stove itself and so she managed to pour the oil into the sauce and stir it without having to move him out of the way. When she turned, however, ready to perform the next task on her 'make dinner for the Titans' list, it was only to find that he had unerringly once again moved to the _one_ place she needed to be.

When she realized this, she stopped before moving him again and put her hands at her sides, looking at him with her lips pursed, "Are you just going to stand there getting in my way or do you plan on being productive sometime soon?"

Robin had been in somewhat of a trance, however, triggered partly by his realization of the ease with which she moved around the kitchen as if it were a well choreographed dance. What had kept him in this half-trance, however, was the shock of the realization that despite the fact that no one he knew was more _unlike_ a 'domestic goddess' than Raven, as he watched her, she seemed so at east that he was finding it hard to remember why she should not rival Martha Stewart. 'Hell,' he thought, 'give her her own show!'

He did, eventually, realize that she had directed herself at him and he shook himself out of his thoughts only to answer with an intelligent, "Huh?"

She motioned vaguely above her and he reached up and grabbed the bowl she needed that was directly above him and handed it to her. She took it and motioned for the fridge. "I put some fresh parsley in the fridge, would you grab it for me?" She stopped moving when she saw him bend into the fridge. "And while you're at it, grab the fresh stuff in the bottom drawer too, will you?"

He walked passed her and grabbed the items, starting to hand them to her but stopping when they were just out of her reach. She looked at him and raised a brow. She, of course, knew why he had stopped. The look of, 'why should I?' on his face plain even for the blind. "If you plan to eat any of this, you might as well help."

"I…?" he started, the pieces starting to come together in his head, but not fast enough for him to remove the confused look off his face before she realized what he had assumed.

"Did you really think I was cooking _all_ this food just for myself?" she asked.

He looked embarrassed, but managed not to blush. He couldn't, however, prevent himself from looking at the dreaded meat substitute pot. "No…" he said softly. "Not _just_ for you…"

She followed his gaze to the pot of tofu sauce and blanched. 'Did he really think I was cooking just for me and Beast Boy?' she wondered. Why would she do that? She wasn't stupid, of course, and knew why _someone_ would cook for herself and a guy and no one else, but what she didn't know was why he had assumed she would _want_ to cook for herself and Beast Boy alone. "Me and Beast Boy?" she blurted out before her sense of restraint could stop her. Although he didn't verbally reply, his look clearly answered as to what his assumptions had been. "Why would you think that?"

"I hadn't gone that far in my analysis, to be frank," he answered a little defensively. "I didn't think it was any of my business to assume why you might be doing it, but it was obvious by…"

"The large quantities of non-vegetarian food that I was preparing that _of course_ I would eat all by myself…" she interrupted sarcastically. She shook her head and took the parsley from his hands, leaving him with the red onions, tomatoes, peppers, and romaine lettuce. "Are you always this jealous?" she asked as she set out to chop the parsley into small bits.

He almost dropped the tomatoes, managing to grab them when they fell out of his hands by the grace of his training. "Jealous!" he asked when he had recovered. "I'm not jealous!" he assured her. "What's more, I don't do jealousy…" his hands and the tomatoes still in them moved from hand to crook of arm and back again, precariously balanced and about ready to fall. "I don't have a jealous bone in my body…" he emphasized his point with a hand movement that tipped the balance of the round vegetables and made him shift his weight and hold once again to keep them from falling.  
"You will not find _one_ instance of jealousy in my repertoire…" he motioned to her with one of the red onions that had stayed in his right hand while the other vegetables had been cradled in the nook of his left arm. "…jealous? Ha!"

Unperturbed by his very vocal assurances, she motioned calmly to the red onions still in his hand. "Slice those, will you?" she turned away and wiped the once again cleaned knife on the dishtowel at her waist. "For a salad," she finished absently as she turned back to the parsley. He watched her as she expertly chopped through the parsley. When she was done, she took it, chopping board and all, to the pots with the sauces. Expertly, she scraped about half of the chopped parsley in each of the sauce pots, grimacing only a little as she uncovered the tofu one before quickly re-covering it once she was done.

He was still standing right where she had left him. She looked at him with eyes open in meaning. She took the peppers from his arm and went back to the chopping board, stopping to take out another large knife and handing it to him by the handle.

When he realized she was urging him to do as she had bid, he set down the other ingredients onto the counter and took the knife, taking only the red onions to the extra chopping board.

Once she saw he had started to do as she asked, she started cutting the peppers into neat, easily edible bite size portions. "Maybe not jealousy," she continued their previous conversation as casually as one might speak of the weather. "But certainly competitiveness," she finished. She glanced at him and the look was one of careful but emotionless consideration. "I thought you had gotten passed that whole winning is all that matters nonsense?"

He tried to hide his blush by working on the onions, easily slicing them into thin rings. "I always feel the competitive tingle," he answered nonchalantly. "I did learn the damage it can do though, so even if I might initially feel the desire to be competitive, I generally don't act on it." He looked at her. "And I still say that I wasn't exactly competitive just now either," he pointed out. "You gotta give me some credit."

She smiled a little. "Okay, you're right," she went back to slicing. "You had enough control to try and make the comment nonchalant, so I give you credit for working on it."

He was still a little stunned at seeing her smile so suddenly. It had not been more than a slight upturn of the corners of her lips and it hadn't lasted very long, but a smile was a smile. He filed the memory of it away with the others in his mind and went back to slicing.

"So," he spoke into the comfortable silence, which had fallen around them as they sliced up enough onions, and peppers for a great salad. "What really brought on this sudden culinary inspiration?"

She stopped and looked at him. "Now why is it so hard to believe that I just wanted to cook something home made?"

He didn't pause in his ministrations but only shrugged. "Maybe because I know you better than you give me credit for," he answered casually.

Every time Robin brought up the closeness they had gained from their mind meld something inside her _moved_. She didn't know quite how to describe it, except that it seemed as if something that had been curled up and at rest inside the pit of her stomach suddenly shifted. She feared it a little, this _thing_ inside her. For it was unlike anything else she had ever felt before – even her Rage. And although it never hurt, it always felt odd and hot and oh so powerful and she always felt like a mouse trying to run across the kitchen floor praying the cat sleeping a few inches away wouldn't wake until she got across the floor and could hide. And she knew, she just knew, that it would mean trouble if it ever woke up.

But unlike with her emotions, she didn't know how to control or suppress this thing and all she could do was ride it out, stay perfectly still, and not think about his words too much, hoping it settled down on its own. Ideally, she would have run away and hid, but with dinner on the line, she didn't think he'd let her.

So, all she could think to do was change the subject and hope he'd go with it.

"Are you trying to say that I'm not type that would take pleasure in cooking?" she asked hoping her voice sounded as nonchalant as she had tried for.

He glanced at her and quirked his lips. She recognized that smile. That was his 'I know something you don't know' smile. She really wished she could see his eyes.

"There's a lot of things I'm trying to say," he admitted. "But not one of them is that you're no Martha Stewart…you already know that."

'Well,' she thought, 'Robin is nothing if not honest.'

He picked up one of the tomatoes and tossed it to her. She caught it easily and began dicing it. He mirrored her.

"Then what are you trying to say?" she asked, looking intently at her hands and the knife, keeping her voice steady.

"All I'm trying to say is that I know you well enough to know that if you wanted home cooking so badly that you were willing to actually cook it yourself, even if you enjoy it," he paused and glanced at her "which you haven't admitted to yet," he went back to chopping. "It would only be when no one else was in the Tower and there was less chance of you being found out."

She stopped working and looked at him, surprised enough to show it. She opened her mouth, apparently to counter his statement, but he continued dicing and went on as if he hadn't noticed.

He _had_ noticed.

"So," he continued conversationally. "If you _are_ cooking while there are still people in the Tower, it either has to be because for some strange and out of the blue reason such as it is national cooking day on Azarath or something equally unexpected," he ignored her narrowed gaze and looked at her pleasantly, "_or _you are upset at something enough that the fact that other people are still in the Tower is not enough to deter you from cooking which is the only thing that will relieve you from your…" he motioned vaguely with the knife, "…add-reason-for-upset here."

She realized her mouth had been hanging open and she closed it with an almost audible snap. The _thing_ inside her was stirring again, testing the walls of the haphazard cage she had slapped over it to contain it even though she knew that if it really tried…if it just stretched with any tenacity, the walls would crumble under its power. She hid her face by turning back to the tomatoes in an attempt to buy herself some time to let the thing inside her settle. She was, however, disappointed to realize that they had already chopped, sliced and diced everything that was going to go in the salad. "There aren't still people in the Tower," she answered, the decibels of her voice slightly lower than normal.

He looked as if he might have been widening his eyes, but she really only had the shape of the white lenses of his mask to go by. "What am I, chopped liver?" he asked, clearly offended.

"No," she answered in that same soft voice. "You're…different."

He cocked his head to the side, the turn of his lips signaling he was pleasantly surprised. "I'm _different_?" he asked. "How so?"

She was uncomfortable and it wasn't hard to tell. "You're…" she trailed off, unsure of what to answer. She hadn't really thought this far through. She had thought he would back off before now. He was still looking at her, waiting for her to finish her thought. "…not _people…_"

He didn't look appeased. On the contrary, he rather looked even more confused. "I'm not?" he pressed.

"No," her eyes lit on the crisp romaine lettuce and although she hadn't been planning to tear it up yet, doing so would at least give her something to occupy herself with other than continue this conversation.

"If I'm not people," he looked at her hard enough that he drew her eyes to him even as she reached for the lettuce. "Then what am I?"

'How did the tables turn on her so easily?' she wondered. "You're not _just_ people," she tried to answer. "You're…" 'Special.' She stopped herself before she finished the verbal thought. "You're Robin," she answered instead, obviously for lack of a better adjective. "Not people, just different."

"You said that already," he pointed out.

She rinsed the lettuce under the tap and then started to shred it with her hands, letting it fall into a bowl under it. "I know," she replied.

"What does that mean, exactly?"

She had really been hoping that he would drop it. But Robin was like a dog with a bone that way and she hadn't had high hopes for that possibility.

"It means your like people in general," she tried to answer as vaguely as she could. "You're you…Robin…and so you're different than everyone else."

"Different than, say, Cyborg?" he asked.

She nodded, offering no other comment.

"Different than Beast Boy?"

She rolled her eyes, but didn't think he could see it since she was still bent over the lettuce that was taking her way too long to shred. "Yes."

"Speedy?"

She looked up, frustrated. "Of course!" she exclaimed, immediately regaining her composure. "You're not like anyone else, Robin," she told him, calmer. Realizing how that might be interpreted, she shrugged and returned to the lettuce. "And no one is like anyone else."

She didn't think he had bought her cover up, but she did hope that maybe now he would let it drop. He didn't.

"So you're saying that there's something about me that makes it so that it's okay for you to do something that you would not do in front of any of the others?"

She sighed. "Yes."

He waited for a few moments, and for the briefest of moments, she thought he wouldn't ask. "What?"

She hadn't realized she had been holding her breath until he asked and she released it on a long exhale. "I don't know," she answered. And as much as she hated to say that there was something anywhere that she didn't know (for her, it was like giving up or admitting defeat…if she didn't know, she would find out…) she preferred saying that she didn't know to saying the truth: That she did know…or, at least…suspected. She wasn't stupid and approached everything with a logical eye and all the facts as of late seemed to be leaning to the fact that she saw Robin as _something_ different than she saw the other Titans. She hadn't come to the conclusion as to what she saw him as, but in truth, that was only because she had stopped investigating. She was _not_ about to tell him any of that, however.

"You _don't…_" he started pensively, the way he would hope to lead a suspect to offer more information.

"No, I don't," she confirmed. "I don't know why I don't mind it if you're around when I'm doing something personal like this, just like I don't know why I don't mind it when you know things about me that I haven't told anyone else…" she trailed off staring at the washed and ready lettuce with the water pouring over it still before she reached over and turned off the tap. "I just don't." She looked up at him. "You're different, but I don't know why."

Looking back at the bowl in the sink with the washed and shredded greens, she drained out the excess water and raised the bowl onto the counter, placing it within his reach. She met his eyes and the meaning in hers was clear: 'Let it go.'

"Fix up the salad, would you?" she asked as she turned back to the pots. "This stuff's almost done," she lifted the lids of the real meat and the real sauce and dipped a spoon into each, tasting a dab and smiling, pleased.

"Is it good?" he asked.

She nodded and dipped the spoon back into the sauce pot, bringing out another dab and extending the spoon to him. "Have a taste?" she asked.

He grinned and took hold of her wrist, steadying her hand as he leaned in to lick the tip of the spoon she still held. When he looked up at her it was with surprise. "That really does taste as good as it smells!"

She smiled and slowly pulled her wrist out of his hold, turning back to the pot with the meat in it. "I think this is ready to cook together now," she told him, putting the lids of both the meat and the sauce pots aside. "You want to help me out here?" she asked.

He nodded. "What do I do?" he asked.

She handed him the dish towel from her waist and motioned to the meat pot. "Take the pot carefully and dip it toward the sauce pot…I'll help the meat into the sauce pot using the spoon," she told him.

He did as she instructed and together, the meat slid easily into the sauce with minimal casualties. Except for a spot or two on his uniform front and on her apron. "Sorry," she offered sheepishly. "I think maybe I should've given you an apron before I recruited you for this kind of work," she admitted, taking the dishtowel from his hands and trying to dab at the red stain.

He chuckled. "It's alright, I've got 42 more."

She shook her head and continued to dab. "That's no excuse."

"It serves me right," he shrugged, "for walking around in my uniform on a quiet afternoon anyway," he said wryly. He watched her dab uselessly at the tiny spot and wished he could spare her the trouble, but was unable to find the words to tell her to stop.

She looked up at him and raised her own eyebrow. "You think?" she teased.

"So I have issues about walking around in civilian clothes," he defended half-heartedly. "I seem to remember someone who walks around in her uniform about as often as I do."

She shook her head. "Not as often as you do, Robin," she countered. "I'm not in my uniform now, am I?" she looked down at her comfortable tan slacks and worn in t-shirt under the apron. "I think I have a sense of when wearing my uniform would cause problems like when I'm cooking."

"Well, I didn't know that I'd be cooking, did I?" he countered.

Finally deciding the red sauce on his shirt was a lost cause, she sighed and stepped away. Realization flashed in her eyes and she quirked a brow. "Forty-two?" she asked. He grinned and nodded. "You have forty-two uniforms?"

He shook his head. "Actually, forty-three with this one," he motioned the one he was wearing. "And well, I started the year off with fifty, but, you know…the whole Slade regent thing killed one of them, I lost two or three more along the way just from irreparable rips and tears of the uniform proper, obviously not the cape, and then I had forty-six until I went off to train with the True Master and came back to find you guys had…" he trailed off as she hid her face and flushed at the memory, "Well…adapted four of them…" he shrugged. "It's better to have more than I need than not enough, anyway…"

She looked up at him, incredulous for a few moments. "Were you a Boy Scout growing up?"

He was caught off guard by her question and was about to ask her where that came from when it suddenly occurred to him and he laughed. "Lemme guess…" he started, nodding along with her…

"Be prepared," they said in unison.

He laughed and shrugged. "Yeah, well, it's easier to order these things in bulk, since they have to be special ordered." He realized what he was saying and turned suspicious eyes to her. "How many do _you_ have?"

She shrugged. "More capes than leotards, in any case," she answered vaguely. Of course, she knew exactly how many she had, but she wouldn't admit that to him after making fun of him for just such a thing. "Why is it every bad guy we meet decides to sharpen his claws on my cape?" she asked.

He laughed and nodded. "I _know_!" he agreed. "But you know," he grew serious. "I could probably make you a cape of the same material as mine…at least a prototype and you can see if you like it…it wouldn't tear as easily and would help protect you if you ever got attacked and didn't have time to raise your magic or something."

She seemed to be considering his suggestion for a few moments before she nodded thoughtfully, "I appreciate the offer," she answered. "And maybe in our spare time we can work on one," she agreed. "I don't want to take up too much time on it, because I'm not sure I'd be able to adapt to the weight of it."

He nodded. "I understand." And of course, she knew he did. He would understand that she was used to things a certain way and that she wouldn't want to change things that worked for her necessarily unless she could live with the changes.

She smiled a ghost of a smile before she seemed to remember something and turned back to the pots. "Damn," she mumbled under her breath. "I hope it didn't stick…" she said more to herself than to Robin. She began to carefully stir the mix of sauce and ground beef and lowered the heat to a low simmer.

"Did it stick?" he asked, going back to take on his assigned task of the salad.

"Nope, at least not that I can feel," she announced as she stirred.

"Good."

She nodded and put the discarded ground beef pot into the sink next to where Robin was working. Walking back to the stove, she flipped the switch of the water pot to the highest level and turned down the heat on the tofu sauce pot without opening it up.

When she turned to the sink it was to find that Robin had already started to wash the pot she had just placed there. She smiled, but it was gone by the time Robin realized she was looking at him.

When their eyes met, she turned back to the stove and switched the large pot with the boiling water to the empty front burner and adapted the heat temperatures to the others accordingly.

While she waited for the water to boil, she went back to the fridge and reached into the freezer, pulling out a long French bread looking piece of aluminum wrapped package. Done with the sink, Robin turned to find her placing it carefully on an empty space on the counter and ripping open the aluminum packaging. His eyes opened wide as she revealed the frozen wonder inside.

"We get garlic bread, too?" he asked, mask opening wide to show his wonder and pleased surprise.

She nodded, smiling. "Not if you don't help, though, remember!" she said with a slightly playful tone to her voice. "Grab the cookie sheet from inside the oven and bring it here with the greased paper."

He found the items and lined the cookie sheet with the greased paper while she cut the loaf. Without further instructions, he brought the baking tray to her and together they placed the cut pieces of bread onto it.

He reached across her back for the discarded wrapper and scanned the instructions for the oven temperature, silently setting the oven at the appropriate temperature and setting the digital alarm on its face for the amount of time.

"Now what?" he asked as they looked at each other, their tasks completed.

She seemed to consider the question, momentarily going over her mental checklist of tasks, until her eyes brightened and focused as she hit on the next task. Seeing as how he was the closest to the fridge, she pointed to it and went in search of the grater.

He went to the fridge and looked into it. Now that the fresh vegetables she had bought were gone, there was nothing left but various degrees of blue food. 'Well,' he corrected, '_And_ jars of Pudding of Remembrance that Star made for them before she left which even the mold seemed hesitant to touch.' "What am I looking for?" he asked.

"Bottom shelf…" she mumbled as she stuck her head further into the cabinets in search of the elusive grater. "…parm…" her voice trailed off as the sound of clattering utensils echoed in its place.

His eyes found the out of place item that she must have been talking about, conspicuous in its freshness. He grabbed the saran wrapped package and brought it out to look at her, "Did you mean the…" he trailed off as he saw her, half on/half off the counter, leaning more and more forward in order to search through the endless drawer of accumulated kitchen utensils they rarely ever used. He couldn't help it…he laughed. "What _are_ you doing?" he asked when he had regained some of his composure.

He began laughing again, however, when she emerged from the search inside the cabinet holding up a beat up plastic cheese grater in one hand and a grin of satisfaction on her face. She sobered up immediately upon realizing the look on _his_ face.

"…y-yes," she answered, noticing he was holding up the cheese in his hand and trying to withhold a smile. "The cheese, for the pasta…" she reached out her hand for it. He remained looking at her. "One word and I swear you'll learn a new use for a cheese grater, Robin," she warned.

He chuckled. "Sorry…" he replied immediately, handing her the cheese. "Just…"

"Shut it," she warned darkly, taking the grater and facing the counter to work. She looked around and realized she would need a dish to put the grated cheese in once it was grated. She cursed under her breath. She would _not_ brave that mess again…not with _him_ watching and ready to make a snide comment.

She was just wondering how she was going to get him to look for the plate when suddenly the dish was placed in front of her on the counter. She turned slightly surprised eyes to him.

"Doesn't that one work?" he asked.

She just barely stopped herself from grinning like an idiot. Instead, she cleared her throat. "It's fine," she conceded.

And although she thought he might drift away when there was obviously nothing else for him to do since she was grating and they were just waiting for the water to boil, he surprised her yet again by leaning against the counter at her side and watching her as she grated.

"You can go and play your game now," she told him emotionless once again, her hands scraping up and down on the grater.

"No thanks."

"This is the boring part," she told him, glancing up at him. "We're just waiting now."

He shrugged. "Waiting's fine," he told her, arms crossed over his chest. He grinned a little. "If you're in the right company."

She shook her head and tapped the grater on the dish, making certain to catch all the bits before laying the grater in the sink and going back to the stove where the water had already started to boil. She turned to the corner of the counter where she had set aside the air tight plastic container with the long strands of uncooked pasta only to find that Robin had once again anticipated what she was going to search for and had not only grabbed it, but opened the container and held it within her reach.

The silence shifted and grew around them as they worked easily. Robin focused on rinsing the last few utensils that had accumulated in the sink while Raven carefully fed the strands of spaghetti into the boiling water. It was almost hypnotic the way that she carefully and gently submerged the strands into the water so that they didn't break until they softened in the heat and disappeared under the surface.

By the time he leaned back against the counter at her side to continue watching her, the boiling water was almost full of. And still, the silence reigned.

And in the silence, Raven was having trouble keeping her mouth closed around the words that wanted to spill from her lips. She almost wished that he had insisted in knowing what had spurred her interest in cooking, but he hadn't and because he hadn't she only wished she could talk with him about it all the more. But she couldn't seem to find the way to bring it up. It wasn't, she realized, that she didn't trust him. She trusted him more than she trusted anyone else alive in this dimension or any other. She trusted him even more than she trusted any of the other Titans, which really was saying a lot considering she trusted all of them with her life.

It wasn't even that she was afraid or felt weak if she talked about it. It wasn't anything like the things he had found out on her birthday at all. She knew that. She really _wanted_ to share this memory, this moment with someone else and have them know why it was special, but…how? She couldn't just say, 'oh and by the way…' She was no good at small talk. She never had been.

She cursed her instinctual reaction to clam up and change the subject. But she was so used to not showing anyone anything that it was difficult to convince herself that it was okay. And then there was the fact that there really was no reason why he would want to know about what the significance of that particular day meant in Raven's life. It didn't affect the Titans in any way and didn't put anyone in danger.

No, it was just…_personal_. And she had always been taught that her personal things were no one's business. What was more, no one really _wanted_ to know about it. She had learned how to deal with her own problems within herself, how to experience all the emotions it brought up without letting any one around her know. What she had never been taught, never learned, was how to deal with other people about her problems. If people felt sorry for her, she grew angry but didn't know how to take their sympathies. If people felt empathy for her, it was an uncomfortable situation that she could do nothing more than ignore until it went away. If you ignored people who were trying to be sympathetic long enough, they all eventually went away. No body wanted to feel anyone's pain other than their own, anyway.

Most people didn't want to share in your grief. They wanted to share in your joy and in your triumphs. And although your friends are those that will not leave you alone and who will muddle through your problems with you if they must, no one really ever _wants_ to stand with you as you grieve, no matter what shape that grieving takes. It made them uncomfortable and uncertain and made them think of their own mortality and so they just rather ignore it and go on with their lives as if nothing had happened if you let them.

And for many years, Raven had let them. Because she really believed that they didn't _really_ want to know.

But now…

Now she was starting to think that maybe Robin was different. He had done his duty and stood by her when he sensed something was wrong. He had asked and tried to get her to talk about it. And when she wouldn't, when he could have left her alone to her own devices like most people would have and gone on with his own life, his own plans for the day, he had stuck around. He had stood with her and helped her and joked with her (in their own way) and without knowing why she needed to do something as out of character as cook, he had helped her without once making her feel strange or more alone.

He didn't push her or try to intrude, but he let her know that he was there, close enough so that she just had to whisper if she wanted to talk. Without him having said a word, she knew without a doubt that he would listen to her, not because he felt he had to, but because he really wanted to help her and this was a new, strange feeling too.

She didn't remember the last time she wished she knew _how_ to open up, how to share with him, because for the first time since she was a small child, she felt that the person who listened to her really wanted to be there.

But she _didn't_ know how.

She watched as the last few inches of uncooked spaghetti sank lower and lower into the pot. "Today is the anniversary of my mother's birth," she spoke aloud, her voice verbalizing the words with much more calm than they echoed inside her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his head rise to look at her. "How old would she have been?" he asked.

She had never told him of her mother's death, and she was a little surprised that he had made the leap of logic. He might have been wrong, but he wasn't and so she smiled a little as she began stirring the pasta in the pot slowly so that it wouldn't stick to the sides. He hadn't asked what she had secretly feared he'd ask. The crowd favorite: 'Oh, she's passed on?' or 'How did she die?' or those other kinds of meaningless phrases. And she suddenly remembered that he had seen some of her memories just as she had seen his. "Thirty-three," she answered.

"So young…" he said softly.

She nodded and sighed. "She was only 16 when she had me," she admitted. She glanced at him and was surprised to find a soft, sad smile on his lips.

"My mother was Twenty-four when she died, she would've been thirty-five this year."

Raven found herself answering the intimate smile with one of her own. "So close in ages," she admitted.

He nodded and looked at the cabinets across from him blankly. He turned to her and grinned. "They could've gone to High School together." He chuckled, "Except my mom grew up in Metropolis," he mused.

She didn't feel as upset as she might have, talking about her mother like this. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, "My mother grew up in Gotham," she provided.

He grinned at her. "So maybe they would've been rivals," he offered.

She couldn't make her face go back to being emotionless. Maybe it was the surprise of how easily Robin was talking about his mother or maybe it was the surprise at how easily she was finding it talking about her own mother, but nothing seemed to work and she wasn't even thinking about using her chant. "I don't think they would've run in the same circles…" she admitted. "Your mother was probably the Homecoming Queen or at least a nominee."

He shrugged. "So? Your looks had to come from someone, Rae, so I doubt your mom was unpopular."

She shook her head. "I don't actually know," she acknowledged softly only realizing later that what he had actually said sounded suspiciously like a compliment on her looks. She blinked and turned to look at him, fighting off a blush. Had he just complimented her? She couldn't be sure, and before she could think of something to say about it, the moment passed, however, like dust in the wind and she lost any opportunity to investigate…not that she would've known how to approach it if she had had the opportunity.

Thankfully, Robin himself was the one that changed the subject, motioning to the pots before them on the stove. "So this is a kind of birthday dinner?"

She shook her head, looking back at the cooking food. "Kind of a tradition," she stirred the pasta one more time and removed the spoon. "We would do this when I was a kid on our birthdays," she explained. "She's the one that taught me to cook, and no matter what other things were going on, on our birthdays we would cook together enough food to feed the whole temple." She shrugged. "I know it's a little silly, but…"

He was shaking his head and it stopped her. "It's not silly," he assured her. "It's actually a great idea to remember someone important."

She looked at him, shocked that he would so easily understand something that she herself hadn't ever really vocalized. Still in a slight state of shock, she nodded. "Yes, I guess it's just my way of remembering her."

He smiled at her and she broke the moment by looking down at the pot before her, chuckling a little dryly. "Of course, we didn't make spaghetti. It was usually more typical Azarathian food, but sometimes we made different earth dishes…" she shook her head. "Not spaghetti though…" She met his eyes and there was a bit of humor in hers. "Spaghetti was just the easiest thing I could figure out how to do."

He grinned. "You should've made an Azarathian dish…" he offered. "It can't be worse than Tamaranian food."

She hid her face so he couldn't see her laugh. "Well," she started, regaining control. "There are some peoples on Azarath that prefer to eat foods like the Tamaranians cook…" she trailed off and at his look of near horror, smiled. "I'm joking," she told him, her tone only slightly amused. "Azarathian food is a lot like Earthinian food of the Mediterranean, actually," she explained. "We don't eat too many of the same animals, though," she admitted. "The ones we do cook aren't anything like cows or deer or pigs here," she offered.

"Doesn't sound too bad," he admitted. "Maybe you should try it sometime?"

She shook her head. "No thank you…I'm not going to try to teleport one of our animals just so you can try them…" she raised her brow. "Anyway, you're going to have enough of alien cuisine when Star gets back from visiting Tamaran…you know she always brings back supplies."

He chuckled and shook his head. "Gods help us," he mumbled. "I'm already running out of ways to hide the food she does give us."

She looked at him with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "I just make it disappear."

"Why do I have the feeling you mean that literally?" He asked suspiciously.

She shrugged noncommittally. "Because I do?" she asked innocently.

"Do I even want to know?" he questioned.

Her lips were still upturned slightly in what might have been a twitch on anyone else, but on her probably constituted a smile. "Like this," she elucidated by waving her hand and making the nearby dishtowel disappear. "See?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, that sure explains a lot!" he exclaimed. He stopped and seemed to think about it for a moment his eyebrows furrowing and his eyes seeming to narrow even more into mere slits. "That's not really fair, you realize," he said, looking at her as if he had just found out how she had cheated at Scrabble and wished he had thought of it first. "I always wondered how you never complained about the food and somehow managed to make it disappear even though I never saw you take a bite."

She shrugged, able to almost smile again. How many times in one hour had she smiled, she wondered? "Hey, we work with what gifts we have…I am luckily blessed with the ability to teleport objects."

He furrowed his brow. "Where exactly do you send it all, anyway?" he asked as it occurred to him.

"Let's just say the inhabitants of Trillian 5 in the Alpha Centauri System have been eating rather well lately."

He looked at her in awe, "Damn!" he exclaimed before he could help it. Realizing he had just cursed, he put a hand to his mouth and blushed. "Sorry," he offered.

She really was grinning. "You just cursed."

He blushed even harder. "I know, sorry," he repeated.

"You _never_ curse unless you're really angry or really surprised."

He nodded. "I have no excuse for my lack of respect." He looked up at her to find that she was practically grinning (which, for Raven, meant that she was smiling enough to actually show just the faintest hint of teeth). He realized that he hadn't offended her. "Don't laugh at me," he chastised. "I'm not the one that's been surreptitiously teleporting Star's food half a galaxy away!" He remembered what had made him curse in surprise in the first place. "And I didn't know you had such an extensive range…"

She tried to withhold a smile, but not very hard. "Yes, I rival all your local cell phone providers," she answered sarcastically.

"You know what I mean."

She did smile then. "Yes, well," she sobered and went back to her task. "It's probably because my abilities are fueled by concentration and trust me when I say that I usually want Star's puddings as far from me as possible and I concentrate _really_ hard on making that happen."

He laughed but she looked pensive.

"Doesn't always make it to Trillian 5 though…" she thought about it for a moment. "Once it splatted on a Japanese guy," she explained. "Another time, Beast Boy nudged me and it got teleported into his sock, which I'm sure he hasn't found and won't find until his next scrimmage of Stank Ball, and a Russian seal was hit on the head by a rather large portion when Star turned just as I was teleporting and almost caught me last week."

He was laughing so hard, his stomach ached. "How do you know where it goes?" he asked, wiping at his eyes.

She shrugged. "I have to concentrate on where to send it, so when it doesn't make it, I just know where it is that it goes…it's like an extension of my magic goes to that place, so…" she shrugged again. "It's hard to explain."

He shook his head. "Well, all I've got to say is that you would make my life a whole lot easier if next time you would just take my servings, too," he asked, still chuckling.

She mock saluted. "Yes, sir," she replied. Her gaze shifted to the stove again and she frowned a little. "I should probably take a look at the tofu sauce, shouldn't I?" she mused aloud.

He looked taken aback. "No," he said seriously. "Don't do it! It's too dangerous!" he tried to keep himself serious, but couldn't help and chuckle at her serious expression.

She smiled at his chuckle and shook her head. "No, really," she said trying for seriousness. "I have barely looked at it since I put it on the stove…I think _some_ attention is warranted…" she didn't look happy, rather like someone who knew she had to take medicine she didn't want to take. "If I'm going to do this, I might as well do it right."

"You are a brave soldier," he said with mock severity.  
"Not really," she replied, still looking at the pot with the tofu sauce in it like a child looks at a _really_ obnoxious relative. "I just feel kind of bad about not paying as much attention to Beast Boy's stuff as to everyone else's," she admitted.

"Maybe if you hold your breath?" he offered.

She considered it for a few moments. "Normally you'd need to smell it to know if it was cooking right, but I think I'd be willing to go by look alone…"

He grinned lopsidedly. "What? No tasting?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you joking?"

His grin widened to show that he had been. "I'll give you five bucks if you taste it."

She shook her head stoically, not even tempted. "Not for a million."

"I'll intercept Beast Boy from your path for a whole week if you taste it," he upped his offer.

She seemed to consider it. "Tempting as the offer of watching you skirmish with Beast Boy is…"

"Are you insinuating that it would take me any length of time to get him to leave you alone?" he asked, slightly offended.

She cocked her head to the side. "Remember that little voice inside your head that tells you when you're being too competitive?"

He frowned and seemed about to argue, but halted himself before he did. "Right, okay, point taken…"

She turned back to the pot and visibly squared her shoulders. "Okay, I'm going in…"

He saluted. "You will be remembered."

At some point between Robin helping Raven by holding her nose closed while she opened up the pot to stir the tofu sauce and check for consistency and Raven's sudden epiphany that a salad would not be any good without salad dressing, Cyborg and Beast Boy entered the Tower and gravitated toward the kitchen and the sound of casual conversation and life therein.

And although they missed almost all of the important stuff, Beast Boy and Cyborg did manage to catch the tail end of the mad dash for dressing ingredients. And even though the boys had entered quite rowdily, the two birds were too busy arguing about whether or not she should add mayonnaise to the dressing to pay much attention to them.

"If you're going to use the bottled dressing why do you need the mayo and the blender?" Robin was asking.

"Because the bottled dressing is acting as a base since I don't have time to make it from scratch," she explained.

"But…" he frowned, "_Mayonnaise?"_ he stressed, looking a little disgusted.

She measured out the bottled dressing into the blender and added two heaping tablespoons of mayo. "It's either mayo or eggs," she pointed out, glancing sideways at him.

He made a face, "I think I prefer the mayo," he mused.

"Beast Boy will have to use that vegan dressing he's got somewhere," she decided aloud even though no one had argued with her. "I am not making two different dressings," she shook her head and glanced at him. "That's just ridiculous, wouldn't you agree?" He nodded and she reached across him to grab the sugar.

He realized what she was reaching for, grabbed the sugar bowl and handed it to her. "Sugar, too?" he asked, increasing in his surprise.

She chuckled as she measured out the sugar into the blender adding two tablespoons of the grated parmesan cheese as an afterthought, "You'll like it, trust me," she promised.

"Star and her mustard and Raven and her mayo," he reflected aloud cheekily.

She turned to glare at him and pressed the start button on the blender like she wished she had him inside the blades.

"Did you see that?" Beast Boy whispered, so as not to call attention to himself. He watched as Robin and Raven continued to talk and seemingly joke together, unaware that anyone else was present.

Cyborg looked shocked and he hadn't really blinked in a few moments but he hadn't realized that yet. His jaw was hanging just slightly open and his eyes (both human and cybernetic) were open wide and slightly glassed over. He stood up to his full height instead of crouching behind the counter in the hopes of getting a closer look. "I can't believe it," he mouthed. "It's home made food." His look was one of careful joy, as if he were expecting to wake up at any moment.

"Dude!" Beast Boy whispered fiercely, pulling him back down into hiding. "Raven chuckled!"

Cyborg seemed unable to process that and turned back to watch as Robin handed Raven a bowl. She poured the contents into the bowl and he absently took the blender back to the sink while she started whisking the contents until it liquefied a little more.

"That doesn't look like salad dressing," Robin pointed out suspiciously.

She looked at it and seemed to hate having to admit that he was right. "There's something missing…" she mumbled raising the whisk to look at the consistency.

"Aliens?" BB whispered, trying not to be conspicuous.

Cyborg ran a quick scan of their vitals. He shook his head gravely, shock still on his features. "Not even body snatchers," he whispered back.

"Oil!" she exclaimed, grinning briefly as she remembered what was missing.

He grinned in return. "On it, chief," he replied, looking in the cupboards for the olive oil. He handed the small bottle to her and she poured a small capful into the mix, continuing to whisk the oil into it, smiling as the consistency started to take better shape.

"That's more like it…" she decided off-handedly as she raised the whisk and watched the dressing pour smoothly back into the bowl. "I think maybe another capful," she looked at him. "What do you think?" She raised the whisk again and let it pour to show him.

He cocked his head a little. "Maybe half a capful," he figured.

She nodded and presented the bowl to him so he could pour the half cap full of oil into the mix. She continued to whisk.

"Okay, so _that_ looks like dressing," Robin approved.

"I don't get it," BB mused. "It's like I'm watching a married couple."

Slowly, Cyborg and Beast Boy turned to look at each other, their eyes widening in surprise as the light bulb slowly started to turn on in their heads, the almost audible 'dingdingdingdingDING' ringing through their expressions.

"DUDE!"

All activity ceased immediately at Beast Boy's exclamation. (Except, of course, for the pots, which continued to bubble slightly above the burners.)

Halfway to putting the glass container with the dressing into the freezer to chill before dinner, Raven raised her eyebrows. Robin, having turned to check on the pasta on the stove, turned at the realization that someone else was around.

All eyes then fell on Beast Boy: two of the three pairs obviously surprised while Cyborg's was slightly panicky.

Under the scrutiny of two surprised and questioning friends, Cyborg swallowed. "MMMM-mmmmm!" he exclaimed forcefully, a big bright smile on his face. "That smells TASTY!" as if that had been what they meant to say all along.

BB gaped and pointed at them, then turned to Cyborg, his mouth opening and closing not unlike a small guppy. "But…they…with…"

Cyborg put a forceful hand on BB's shoulder and opened his eyes wide, trying to impart his meaning to his friend. "YES, Beast Boy, our two FRIENDS have consented to COOK us dinner, isn't that NICE of them!" When BB's mouth finally stopped trying to gulp in air enough to speak Cyborg turned to Robin and Raven who were staring at them in slight shock. "And it smells GREAT!"

Raven's surprise left her just this side of amused and Robin's shock left him proud. "It's just spaghetti with meat sauce," she offered as if it were nothing.

"_Home made_ meat sauce," Robin emphasized, knowing the effect it would have.

Cyborg's eye teared up. "Home made?" He asked, sniffing. The pretence of pleasure he was using to bypass their realization of what Beast Boy _almost_ said fading to leave only the sincere bliss at the expectation of a good meal. "I'm having home cooked pasghetti?" Cyborg asked in awe, his eyes misting up for real.

"Pas…" Raven started, raising an eyebrow. It was just about this moment that Cyborg realized with a sinking heart just what he had let slip.

"…Ghetti?" Robin finished, a grin starting to form on his lips.

Cyborg blushed immediately.

"Dude!" BB exclaimed, turning to Cyborg and laughing so hard he snorted. "Did you just say _pasghetti_?"

Cyborg hardened his expression as he looked at his friend, preparing himself for the verbal teasing assault. "So what?"

BB's grin turned into guffaws. "I stopped saying pasghetti when I was like 4!"

"But you did say it, huh, Beast Boy?" Raven asked coyly, her words stopping Cyborg's fist three inches from the top of Beast Boy's head where it was about to come crashing down.

Beast Boy blushed immediately. "So what? I was four!" he went into defensive immediately. Looking for a way to change the subject, his eyes fell on the pots on the stove as he sniffed. "Aw, Raven! You made Meat sauce!" he whined. "Now I can't have the spaghetti!" he looked like a lot kitten sniffing for its mother.

Raven shook her head and pointed to the pot in the back…in the corner…with the lid still on… "That is a _nutritious,_" she tried bravely not to make a face as she said the word and just barely managed thanks to her extensive training, "meat substitute red sauce," she added.

BB's eyes watered and he ran to attack the sauce, but Raven raised a hand and he smacked right into a black barrier.

For a moment there was shocked silence as BB was splayed across the barrier like a fly on a windshield. But as he slid slowly off the barrier onto the floor, the room erupted in laughter.

When the oven dinged, Raven glanced at Robin just in time to catch him as he turned to the counter where the tray with the slices of bread had been waiting. Using his signature R oven mitt, he carried the tray to the oven, slightly pushing Raven's legs aside so he could open it and place the tray inside.

Cyborg's nostrils flared and he inhaled deeply. "Gar…" Cyborg started, his eyes growing wide and happy, he swallowed a few times before he could manage to stop the drooling, "Garlic bread?" he finally managed.

Robin looked up at him and grinned, that being the extent of his answer.

"Fresh from the oven…" Cyborg looked at BB who was only just managing to stand and rubbing absently at his nose. Cyborg grabbed the smaller changeling's shoulders and just barely withheld himself from shaking him, "…garlic rolls!"

Beast Boy, used to his friend's jovial ministrations, looked unperterbed at Cyborg and grinned lopsidedly. "Don't you mean, garwic wolls?"

Cyborg's joy faded into immediate anger. "How 'bout I knock out your teeth and that way you'll be speaking that way for real?" he asked, raising his hand to strike him sondly in the head. BB shifted into a mouse and fell right out of his grasp, shifting back into a human once he was out of immediate striking distance.

"You'll have to catch me first, _wittle_ man!" Beast Boy teased.

Just before the chase began, Raven's attention was drawn to the pots on the stove. "Whoever sets the table gets extra helpings," she called out casually as she started to turn the burners off.

As she thought, the argument ended immediately and the only movement in its place was the feeling a slight breeze as they zoomed off.

"Robin, would you get the serving bowls?" she asked.

"Are you going to offer me seconds if I do?" he asked jokingly already moving to find the bowls.

She glanced sideways at him as she stirred the meat sauce pot to make certain nothing had stuck. "I will refrain from pointing out how competitive that comment sounded," she began.

He smiled and lowered his head, realizing she was right. "Thank you," he replied succinctly as he brought the bowls over to her.

"You're welcome," she answered motioning for him to set one of the bowls down close to the stove. "However, you _have_ helped with the meal," she answered seriously, "So you should probably get first dibs on the pickings, anyway," she answered.

He grinned. "Sweet!" he replied.

She was prevented from replying by the sound of Cyborg and Beast Boy arguing over who was going to set the table.

"You don't even _know _where the dishes are kept, elephant butt!"

"I do so!"

She shook her head, smiling a bit and set about transferring meat sauce and spaghetti to the proper serving bowls, noting in which bowl the tofu sauce was. "You know," she started, sniffing tentatively, "The tofu sauce doesn't actually look that…" she turned to find that Robin was still standing very close to her and staring at her. His expression had lost the playfulness or competitiveness and held only a deep sort of contemplation and concern in the lines of his face and the set of his jaw. She grew instantly serious. "What is it?" she asked.

"If something's still bothering you," he started casually, "You know I'm here…" he looked a bit uncomfortable. "If there's anything I can do to help, just…"

He trailed off at the quick grin she offered him, more at the sincerity in it than anything else.

She picked up the large pasta bowl she had filled with steaming al dente spaghetti and handed it to him as well as the brightly colored serving bowl she had put the tofu sauce into.

She herself took the garlic bread she had put in a small wicker basket, and the meat sauce she had put into a dark blue serving bowl in one hand and the glass carafe she had filled with soda in the other. Their eyes met over their loads and under the sounds of their friends fighting about how many servings they could and could not consume, she spoke, "You already have."

He smiled in return even as she walked out of the kitchen and to the dining table the boys had _eventually _set, the Italian salad in its wooden bowl, the glass container with the chilled dressing, and the dish containing the grated parmesan cheese floating in a cloud of black energy behind her. After a short pensive pause, he followed her out.

_xxxxxx_

**A/N:** Whoa. This one was hard to get out. Not so much because of the scene itself, although it took me a while to decide on what the scene was actually going to be, but because I think it had a lot of technical like stuff (about the cooking) that I had to research and then I felt that it was too much information and too much stuff that wasn't their own conversation. And then when Jurodan looked through it, there were a lot of things that I needed to fix, so…here I am. Posting it now.

I'm starting to realize that there are some things I repeat in my stories when I just want a random something that doesn't particularly mean anything in the story but means something to me. So, yeah. If you can find out where it is in this story, you'll get a virtual cookie! (and everyone knows I deliver on my promises, people!)

I also find myself repeating a certain something in these particular vignettes. Now that four vignettes have gone by and I think I can say that its been in each one, (I haven't really thought about it much except as I'm writing it here, so I could be wrong…allow me to correct myself later if I am) I think I'm going to see if I can keep it going in each of the ones I post from now on. If you guess what that is, I'll give you a double helping of virtual cookies! ((grin)) As a hint, it's also present in _Instinct_ because as I said there it started out intended to be one of the _Moment_ vignettes, and when I changed it it just worked well there, so it stayed.

**Thanks**: If anyone's reading these that has reviewed in the other one-shots I've put up here, thanks for those, too! ((DOUBLE grin))

_Absentia:_ I know you reviewed for _Instinct_ and not for this story, per say, but you did review for the other stories in that one, so thank you. I hope you're reading this because here's the thing: I think Puck (my muse) might want to take your advice. He's considering doing a quick follow up to Instinct where I might try my hand at some citrusy kinds of fruits. I'm not used to them, so I make no promises. I might chicken out at the last moment, but there you go. _Cups_ was also my favorite of these, even now. Especially because the way it came to me was pure inspiration. It took me almost no time to write at all and it was really a lot of fun. I wish this one were the same, but I'm afraid it's not. ((frown)). Oh, well. Hope to hear from you again, soon, k! Oh, p.s. You're absolutely right about the mistakes you pointed out. I have it on my list to go back and correct those. Thanks!

_Guardian Kysra_ Wow! I'm a big fan of your works, especially the big'un, _Walk on Water_ and to have you not only read my stuff but offer such an amazing review, I'm like…walking on air right now. I hope I don't disappoint with this chapter!

_Dark-Magic67_ I agree. The thing with the flamers is that they offer no constructive criticism at all. If they did, I would welcome them with open arms. I think people who point out flaws in my logic or in my writing are doing me a favor, but just saying something stupid like "it's Rob/Star" in a review of a plainly "Rob/Rae" story is ridiculous and a waste of effort. But hey, everyone's got a right to be free, so bring 'em on. It's my first time becoming a member of an off-canon fandom like this (in Inuysaha world, most of my stuff is Kagome/Inu with a few flights of fancy into Miroku/Kagome, but not many). Even if I like a pairing especially, if the writing of the other pairing is good enough, it shouldn't matter, right? Anyway, thanks for the review and I'm really glad you enjoyed the story!

_Unforeseen:_ Thanks! I've got a few more possible scenarios in my head, a few scenes worked out, but I don't know if they'll make it out. We'll see! I am trying really hard to put them in non-traditional situations. So, thanks again!

_Katylar_ Thanks for the invite to the Forbidden Love forum! It sounds neat! I am part of the livejournal RobxRae community that I put the link up on my profile page and I think they have a link to the Forbidden Love page from there, so I'll check it out. Caveat: when I have time…that elusive thing…((frown)) Your reviews are really very helpful as they compartmentalize the aspects of a story. Thank you very much for taking the time to do that for me! It's great! I hope to see more of that! I'm dreading what you're going to say about the length of this one, though…((sweatdrop))

_Ravene_ Just to watch my back in case I decide to make it M worthy in the future. Although I think I've downgraded it for now with the decision that I'll upgrade it if I do add something risqué later.

_Mysti__-eyed:_ I think that was the exact same website I went to find the picture of the painting too! I knew the painting, but I didn't remember the name of it and that's the painting I wanted to have on the mug he gave her, right from the beginning.

_Ainominako_ No vegan mocking intended! Please excuse me if it seemed that way! That mug with the cow on it was inspired by a sign for a chicken restaurant where the cow had a sign up that said, "Eet mor chiken". I always thought it was hilarious, so I modified it a bit.

_The Omakeer:_ Oh no…I'm sorry if I disappointed you with this one. I don't feel this part was up to the other parts, but maybe that's because I didn't feel like I had as much fun writing it. (except for some parts). I thought she would be the type that once someone went through the trouble of giving it to her would make sure to use every single one of them. And I didn't know about them playing a video game in the comic. I haven't read them although I've gotten some background information from them from the synopsis (synopses?) of the comics. And Raven in Wonder Woman Pjs…well, I almost gave her something totally out of character like Tinkerbell or what I'm curretly wearing, Betty Boop pjs, but I thought what would Beast Boy give her and it just seemed to fit that he would give her WW pjs and of course, there's also the double meaning that he gave Superman boxers to Robin. ((grin))

_Elyssalyn_ Thank you! ((bows, blushes)) I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.

_Salanis_ I'm thinking that they will reach an apex, eventually. There's already one that's written and beta'd that I had written before I wrote this one, but that was much more advanced into their friendship/budding relationship than I wanted to portray this early on, so yeah, I do plan on having them slowly develop into a final sort of apex. I don't know what that apex will be, mind you, but them's the plans! ((wink))

_Water81:_ I went to your profile a while ago, when you first reviewed and I couldn't see which one it was you referred to in this review? If you point it out, I'd love to read what I inspired! ((grin)). And by my first outing did you mean _Tried and Tested_?

_Merciful Sky:_ If you make one like at Café Press or something like that, let me know and I'll announce it. A few other people reviewed that they'd like one. I guess Speedy's was the most popular! LOL. I thought about setting one up on Café Press myself so people can get it if they want to.

_Al the Pirate:_ I started to read _Comfortable_ actually! I think it's listed on the RobxRae livejournal forum's list, isn't it? In any case, I'm helping the moderator of the list keep it updated and I think I stumbled across your story then. It caught my attention, but I was trying to get as many of those updated, so I didn't have time to continue reading, but it's definitely on my list of things to read! ((grin))

_The Metropolis Kid:_ Thank you for being mature enough to say that! It really means a lot. And obviously, your review was one of the best compliments I could receive. So thank you for that too! ((BIG grin))

_Alena__-Chan:_ I hope you're feeling better from the cold! And I can't believe you were actually reviewing to me while you still had a fever! You need to take care of yourself first! I definitely understand if you can't review! ((goes into Cuban mother mode and tries to tuck you into bed)) Please feel better!

_Rinagurl13:_ Heh…"screw the flamer". Yeah! They haven't come back, although someone reviewed very intelligently to my other one-shot, _Instinct_ and said very eloquently, "this sucks". Useful and quite helpful, that. Anyway, yes, I absolutely ADORE Foamy. And I thought it would be perfect that Cyborg's the one to pick up that sense of humor, too. I tried to make each mug a kind of reflection of both the giver and Raven. It's a reflection of the giver because it shows what they pick up about Raven's character.


	5. V: Tea

**A/N:** This one is "_different"_ (Jurodan's word, exactly) than the others. I leave it up to your estimation.

_Full A/N, etc at the end. _

_xxxxxxxx_

_**It Only Takes A Moment  
**__**Part V: Tea  
**__**By Em**_

"_If I pour your cup / that is friendship. / If I add your milk / that is manners. / If I stop there/ claiming ignorance of taste/ that is tea. / But if I measure the sugar / to satisfy your expectant tongue / then that is love/ sitting untouched and growing cold."  
_- Cold Tea Blues, Cowboy Junkies

Some things about him were well known. Some things were even expected. Some things that he did were put up with and some were forgiven. There were things about what he liked to do, and what he didn't like to do that no one questioned or wondered about. Everyone knew he liked to play basketball and everyone knew that no one touched his motorcycle but him. Also, everyone knew that the ham in the fridge was his special weekly allowance to himself and everyone knew not to touch it. It was no secret that he didn't like anchovies, was indifferent to Italian sausage and much preferred black olives and mushrooms on his pizza. And even Beast Boy knew that he preferred Gatorade to Powerade and Coke to Pepsi. Those were givens. _Everyone_ knew them.

A few people knew other things about him. Like how he went ga-ga over fresh brownies but preferred vanilla ice cream to chocolate. And although it wasn't common knowledge to the public at large what TV-shows he watched, his friends, if they ever stopped to think about it, all knew that he preferred _CSI_ to _Law and Order_. And although it wasn't difficult to guess that he preferred Rock music to Hip-Hop (anyone within hearing distance of the gym when he worked out could attest to that preference) only a few people knew that he actually rather liked Eminen and Outkast and the Black-Eyed Peas on occasion.

He had never kept any of these preferences from his friends due to any sort of conscious thought on his part, it had just _happened_ that way. He didn't hide any of his preferences, either, but he didn't announce them to the world.

Like the way only Aqualad had ever asked him if he ate fish, so only Aqualad knew how he hated seafood and had been allergic to shellfish for most of his early childhood.

None of the others had ever asked him or even probably stopped to think why he didn't join them when they ate seafood.

It had never occurred to him, either, to wonder who knew what about him. Other than his civilian identity and what his eyes might look like behind the mask, he had never given a thought to what people might or might know about him. He had never wondered at how Cyborg never asked if he liked basketball but simply asked him one day if he wanted to play. Or how no one touched the Gatorade because they knew it was his or how whenever ice cream was served, he always got vanilla handed to him no matter who was doing the serving.

That night, however, as he walked into the kitchen to find Raven putting the kettle onto the stove, he stopped to think about these things. She was not surprised to see him enter the kitchen just as he was not surprised to find her within it. They had met this way before, of course. This night time impromptu meetings had _always_ been, it seemed and he could not exactly pinpoint when they had started. Neither of them were heavy sleepers, after all. They also did not tend to sleep through the entirety of the night, and so it wasn't a particularly strange occurrence to find either one of them sitting at the kitchen table during the wee hours. Consequently, more often than not, they met during their nocturnal visits to the kitchen.

They didn't always talk on these nights. Sometimes they sat side by side, enjoying the comfortable silence between them until they had finished their respective beverages or snacks before, in unison, standing and walking back to their rooms.

Sometimes they did speak; random conversations that served as testament to nothing but their muddled, sleepy minds.

But on that night, as he watched Raven wordlessly grab his mug out of the cupboard before turning and grabbing her own, he came to a startling realization: Raven knew something that no one else knew. Somehow, on one of these late nights, she had realized, without him having to tell her, something that no one else in the entire world (save, perhaps, for Alfred) knew. He sat down, as he had done for several nights now whenever he came to the kitchen after her, and watched her as she set his mug before him and hers where she would be sitting across from him. She said not a word as she brought out the sugar, the milk, and the honey. She brought out two spoons and when the teakettle whistled, she brought it to where he sat and filled his cup before she filled her own.

Had she even bothered to look at his face, she might have been curious at what brought on his look of surprise, but she didn't even need to ask with a look or try to read his gestures to know that he wanted the Earl Gray, so without having to search for permission or ask for a preference, she brought the tea bag to his cup and dunked it in.

He wasn't surprised. Not really. This had become their custom for the last few nights already (or had it been over a month now?). No, he wasn't exactly surprised…he knew that her tea bag was not Earl Gray but Chamomile, after all, so why should it surprise him that she knew what tea he liked? No… That, in and of itself, was not the surprising thing.

'Perhaps,' he thought as he watched her add just the right amount of milk to make the contents of his cup almost caramel colored before pulling away and pouring just a small dab into her own cup, 'surprise wasn't the right word at all?'

He didn't feel the need to warn her as to how much sugar he took as she went about adding sugar to both their cups, so it couldn't be surprise, now that he thought about it. Surprise would imply some sort of unexpected revelation and when she raised the honey to his cup, it wasn't unexpected that she would add the right amount to satisfy his taste. On the contrary, he _knew_ she would add exactly the right amount just as he knew that she wouldn't add any to her own cup.

It wasn't surprise that she knew what to add and how much. (How could it be when it seemed so natural?) But there was _something_ there, certainly.

And as she finally sat down across from him and stirred her cup gently (she always stirred it three times before tapping the spoon against the side of the mug and laying it aside for her first sip) he finally figured it out.

No, he amended his previous thought. Although it might have started out as some sort of surprise at the realization that Raven was one of two people who knew that he liked tea at all that really wasn't what was surprising him at all. It was, instead, an epiphany of almost biblical proportions that somehow, at some time, Raven had come to realize exactly how he took his tea.

Raven leaned back in her chair, her lithe fingers wrapped around the mug, holding it up to her lips as if she were relishing in the warmth seeping through the ceramic and their eyes finally met.

For moments upon moments, they stared at each other silently, neither one of their expressions changing. He wasn't sure what she saw in his expression, but he knew that for some reason, he was still reeling from his epiphany. Almost automatically, he picked up on the curiosity in her own expression and he doubted that it had occurred to her just what sort of realization he had come to or even how hard he was trying to follow that realization down the path that seemed to lead from it.

Finally, after what seemed like eons, Raven brought the cup the last few inches to her lips and sipped her eyes still on Robin's mask.

"Robin?" she spoke into the silence that had settled comfortably around them.

Her voice snapped his out of his internal reverie, but he managed to keep exactly how much she had caught him off guard from his features. "Hm?" he replied casually.

She motioned with her head to his mug still sitting on the counter before him. "Drink your tea," she looked down at his cup sitting untouched and rapidly cooling.

He followed her gaze down to his own cup which he had just about forgotten was there. He inhaled the sweet concoction but couldn't seem to make himself reach out for it. He looked back up at her, wondering if maybe she _had_ started to realize the implications of what she had done just as he was starting to, but there was no surprise or epiphany-reaching expression on her face…her expression was as unemotional as ever. He knew that her lack of expression didn't exactly mean she hadn't reasoned it all out already in her mind. And although he considered broaching the subject with her, he didn't have time to wonder at how he should before she dismissed the moment between them by lowering her eyes back to her own cup and raising it to her lips again.

When she spoke again, her voice was pensive and quiet: "It's getting cold."

In the end, he didn't know what to make of the tone of her voice and he was left with a one-sided realization and a cold cup of tea.

_xxxxxx_

**Disclaimer:** Still not mine. Give it up, will ya?

**A/N:** Well…here's what happened: I was wondering what the next chapter of his was going to be and I had twenty-thousand different scenarios running through my head. I wrote out a few of the beginning scenes for a few of them, but none of them was everything I wanted this next vignette to be. Then something when I was driving home reminded me of an old song (like 90s song) called "Crescent Moon" by the band I quote above, Cowboy Junkies. I don't expect anyone to know them…I probably wouldn't know them except I heard that song ages ago and I liked it enough to buy the album (way, way before the download song craze) so I was stuck with the whole album because I really liked one song on there. Anyway, eventually I got to like most of their songs. And the song I quote above, "Cold Tea Blues" is one of them. So I had thought of the Crescent Moon song and got home after class and picked up the cd and opened it up to look at the lyrics as I was doing some other things and my eyes fell on the lyrics to the "Cold Tea Blues" song and when I read them, the lightbulb went off in my head. And there you go…this vignette was born.

As to the length…eheh…despite the really long chapter last time, this one is uber short. Sorry about that, but if I extended it any more, it wouldn't have been the same kind of vignette that I wanted it to be. The good news is that I already have the next vignette written and beta-ed by Jurodan. Although I worked on fixing this one from the mistakes before the other one, the other one should be posted within the next day or so. So…don't hate me, k? And review for this one, too. I want to know whether or not this style worked or sucked, k?

**Thanks:** First of all, thank you so much to _everyone_ who is reviewing these vignettes. I love to hear what you guys think! And enough of you seem to agree that **_Cups_** is the favorite so far. ((laugh)). I tend to agree with you. I think it's my own personal favorite too. But I actually rather like this one. Probably not for the same reasons I like **_Cups_**, but for its own reasons. Anyway, just to remind y'all that I'm not answering each of you personally for your reviews cause if I did it would take me _waaay_ too long to update these and all of that. But I am answering the people who specifically say something in their review that I feel I need to address. So, please don't feel offended or left out or think I forgot you or don't appreciate your review if I don't respond back to you here, okay? I appreciate each and every one of them. I do. I hug them and coddle them and hold them close. In this crazy pre-bar exam time, they keep me warm at night! (Which is actually kind of sad now that I think about it…)  
Fictiongurl: Nope. Not done. You'll know that it's done when it is. Trust me. ((grin))  
Sundroptea: Really? It was TaT that turned you on to the pairing? Wow. I'm floored. I'm really, really honored! Thanks! I'm so happy that my little story could convert someone to our side! ((cackles madly)) Welcome to the Dark Side…((wink))  
Sealed Flame: You're cute! Free-for-all idea…heheh….Thanks very much for the offer. I don't have any vignette planned that would have him mentioning the uniform again, but since I'm not _really_ planning these ahead of time, anything's possible! So, thanks again. You just might end up seeing the idea used! (And of course, you'll get credit for it!)  
Boongdaba: Thanks for understanding.  
Bloodgore: I have a fan? ((faints))  
Absentia: Hello my friend! Your reviews are never sucky, so rest easy. Especially if you take the time to review at such an ungodly hour when you're tired and everything! I really appreciate it. Some of the spelling mistakes you might have noticed might have been on purpose. I have a tendency to sort of 'make up' my own words when none of the ones in the thesaurus will help me. (example: 'sucky' that I used above has a red squiggly line on word as I write this…I mostly ignore the squiggly lines cause it doesn't recognize words like that, even though I will look at them to see if it's a word I should be spelling correctly.) I can't think of one right off the top of my head, but I do. Also, the way this last chapter worked (and the way they usually work unless it's a special case of a major overhaul the way _Instinct_ was) is that Jurodan betas it after I write it and in some instances, he suggests I add things or make a scene longer or flesh something out. (I call the initial version that I send him, my 'first draft'. Because as far as I'm concerned, it's done. Until I get it back from Jurodan. The corrections I make and the additions I add make it version 2) When I do flesh it out or add something or whatever, I don't always send the chapter back to him, so there might be spelling errors there. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the mistakes or errors in spelling and such are probably all mine. ((frown)). I try my best to catch my own mistakes, even before I send it off to Jurodan, but a few always slip pass me. I'll warn you now, my biggest repeat offender errors are with some word confusion like past/passed (I'm better, though…it used to also be with chose/choose and lose/loose until now I consciously think about which one to use so I catch myself). I try to catch myself with the past/passed but the thing is that sometimes, you can use both. Maybe one of them is more grammatically correct, but both, at first blush, seem correct. All of this is my attempt to explain my mistakes so you don't think I'm just lazy or stupid and that's why I have the mistakes I do. I can take criticism, I really can, but whenever someone points out a stupid mistake I've made I feel like slamming my head against the wall and hiding myself away from the regular people because I shouldn't make them. ANYWAY…  
Point is, you can feel free to either email me the specific instances of mistakes or whatever that you find or you can just c/p them on the review form if you like. I'll look at them and if I didn't do the mistake on purpose, (and even if I did do it on purpose if I think it looks enough like a real mistake after you point it out that I should just give up and change it) I will change it.  
Thanks for commenting on whether or not I added too much detail. I was worried about that aspect of the vignette.  
About which Robin: I'm going with Dick (God, I hate that name, it just sound so open to teasing…). And the bit about his mum is because although I do know that they were circus performers, I figured I'd play a bit with their youth and have him say that his mother grew up in Metropolis. I don't know whether she was _always_ part of the circus or not, or really whether or not she really did grow up in Metropolis. But I just thought I'd add that in there for the story. I figured I could get away with it even despite the circus performer bit, because she could always have gone into the circus after high school, y'know?  
About the bond: Yeah, I don't think that Raven would be the type to keep bringing it up. ((hug)) What you brought up about the level of comfort and familiarity is JUST what I wanted to emphasize with them. It's what I kept seeing as key about this vignette, to show that they were really very comfortable with each other on a normal basis. I kind of fought with my muse about whether or not I should have them realize that comfort in that vignette, but now I'm happy to say that my muse won and I didn't add it there.  
About the vignettes as a whole: ((blush)) Thank you so much! That's pretty much the exact thing I wanted to work through with these vignettes. That concept that love is shown through the little, seemingly insignificant moments between two people. Eventually, of course, I think I'm going to have to have them come to a sort of BIG realization as to what it all means, but I honestly don't know how or even if I really will play that out. We'll see.  
About the forced nature of this piece: Yeah…I did kind of drag my creative feet a little on this one. It's what I was afraid would show up. If it only showed a little in the middle, then I don't feel so bad. I wasn't particularly trying hard to throw in humor, although maybe unconsciously I was because I am actually a little self-conscious as to how I tend to suck at humor and go too much into angst. I'm trying to do something different with these vignettes, and challenge myself, which is why when something starts becoming too angsty, I try to stop myself and force myself to lighten it up a little. It doesn't always work.  
Writing to a Playlist: Sometimes I do write to a certain playlist. For this vignette that I'm posting now, I actually was just listening to the Cowboy Junkies CD. I don't remember writing to any particular playlist for _Pasghetti_, although music is very important to me and I tend to always have some on. (wait…I do remember playing, "That's Amore" by Dean Martin…does that count? It's the Italian dinner influence…eheh…) I didn't purposefully make reference to any song in the writing of it, though, so if you wouldn't mind pointing out which ones you think I made reference to, I'd love to know specifically what lines you thought were song related.  
I love writing Beast Boy and Cyborg. Their interaction is so fantastic and funny and you can always have so much fun with them. For _Games_ , remember where I mention that Beast Boy, Cyborg and Star go off to a car show? (Was that for _Games_ or another one? I don't remember now…((frown))…I think they're all started to get mixed up…anyway for one of the,…) I actually had written a little piece of interaction which showed them going off to the show, but then I cut it out cause I'd have to explain too much to get them where I wanted them. But I still have that piece around somewhere. I'm considering putting up a scrap or something on my dA page for the "deleted scenes". (Also cause Jurodan mentioned wondering what Raven's reaction was when Speedy gave her the mug in _Cups_ and it seems people are wondering about little moments I don't mention in the actual stories.)  
I keep having to find explanations as to why the other Titans aren't around. I think maybe I'll have to have them interacting at some point even when they are around. Hm. That actually doesn't sound like such a bad idea…((goes and writes that down…))  
About Robin's jealousy: Amazing that you caught it! I thought it was really subtle. (Unless you're talking about his jealousy in _Cups_ and not here?) Here's a personal preference that might come out in a separate, independent story, though: I am kinda liking the Raven/Speedy possibility much more than I like the Raven/Aqualad possibility. So, if I ever do a story where I want to get Robin really jealous and have Raven flirt or be flirted with, it'll probably be with /by Speedy. So, that personal preference is probably why I mentioned Speedy before Aqualad in both _Cups_ and _Pasghetti_. (Actually, now that I think about it, I didn't mention Aqualad getting her a cup at all, did I? Oops.)  
About Possible Instinct 2: I've actually started it. I actually have about a page and a half in notebook paper. (Sometimes I do my best brainstorming/ initial writing on paper and not on the pc.) That doesn't mean that I actually will finish it any time soon, but just that I know more or less how the beginning will start.  
Although I'm not as habitually non cannon as you are, I don't mind reading non-canon pairings for most fic. (I actually enjoy Mir/Kag myself as well as _some_ Sess/Kag…some of it isn't done well at all.) As for Mir/Kag, I actually wrote a sort of Mir/Kag one-shot…it's on my other ff account. If you found yourself inclined to read it, I'd certainly appreciate it. It's called _Sin_. The link to my other ff.n account is on my profile through here. Volpa is an Inu writer or a TT writer? I haven't read her, although I've read a few non-canon Inu writers that inspired me to write _Sin_ in the first place.  
I took a gander over at your profile right before I started replying to reviews and although I don't have time to read anything right now (I _hate_ time…) I do promise to read through them. I know I'll enjoy them. They look really interesting! I think I'm going to read _Storm Warning_ first…it seems very intriguing.  
About the PPS Challenge: I will take up the challenge in the sense that I have gotten the song and been listening to it. Of course, I haven't had a chance to actually sit down and write out the lyrics (it's my first step to being inspired to work with a song) I see what you mean about the inspiration to the imagination, though. I will try.  
And yeah, I think this review was longer than the last one. Also, my answer has been much longer, too.  
_Neetfreek:_ This one isn't dead. It'll be done at some point, can't say when, but I don't like to leave my stories incomplete, so don't worry about it dying. ((grin)). All of the other fics I have posted here, are either one-shots or already complete (_Tried and Tested_) So, I won't be updating any of those. Thanks for the review!  
_Watergoddess08:_ Yep, they actually are going to eat without Starfire because Starfire is very conveniently (for my story, anyway) out of the picture on Tamaran. (I mention it sometime along the middle), so it's not that they're purposefully starting without waiting for her, but that she isn't due back for awhile. You're not going to see much of the other Titans in these vignettes, just as an aside. Showing BB and Cy was kind of an unavoidable thing I did on _Pasghetti_. But probably not going to be repeated often.  
_MsLessa:_ Alright! Confirmed that the story is realistic by an actual married person! ((grin)) I actually only had my own experience cooking with people I know and am comfortable with to go by, so thanks!  
_Lolopixie:_ Such a thing as Tofu Spaghetti actually exists? Oh, my. I thought I was making that up! And I agree that trivial conversation sometimes has the most meaning. At least, that's been my experience, which is why I thought up to do these vignettes. Thanks for reviewing all of the vignettes!  
_Ainominako:_ ((slams head against desk)) Oh, no! I didn't mean to mock! I swear! It's not the vegetarian thing that I mock, though, it's Beast Boy making everything out of tofu that I feel deserves a little teasing. Thanks for reviewing anyway! Hope I don't offend you again!


	6. VI: Classics

_**It Only Takes A Moment  
**_**_Part VI: Classics  
_**_**By Em**_

"_If you never have, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good."  
- _Dr. Suess

"Would you kindly remind me why I am here?"

Robin didn't even bother to look away from the movement on the big screen before them. "I will ignore your sarcasm as a mistake of the uninitiated," he replied in an almost perfect imitation of her deadpan.

Raven looked from the messy piles of DVDs on the corner of the coffee table threatening to topple over to the ancient battle raging on the screen. She was quiet for a few moments, then, "It isn't even historically accurate."

Robin was unaffected by her comments. His legs didn't so much as twitch where they were propped on the coffee table. He didn't even look frustrated. "It's not supposed to be historically accurate."

Raven frowned. Beast Boy, she knew, would've popped an artery by now. She also knew, however, that Robin had always been harder to crack. She would get to him, though. Eventually, she got to everyone. No one was immune when Raven got it in her head to be facetious. "Then what's the point if not for historical reference?"

"For violence and carnage, what else?" he replied categorically.

Raven frowned even harder. "Don't we get enough of those in our _real_ life?"

"Yeah," he agreed. "But like you said, this is not real violence and carnage."

"And so that makes it worthy of watching?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

He finally looked at her and the grin on his lips preceded the mischievousness of his next statement, "Naturally."

"Your logic astounds me," she deadpanned.

He chuckled. "Come on, Raven! This is a classic!"

She almost grinned. She knew that everyone pretty much thought that she never did anything for fun and that she entertained herself fully with reading her books. The truth was, however, that her books were not the only way she entertained herself. Frankly, she could usually entertain herself for hours on end just by being annoying to various members of the team. (With the lone exception of Starfire, of course. Starfire, she had learneddid not become irritated by _anything_ and might actually end up being hurt instead. This was a lesson she had, unfortunately, learned the hard way after she had to spend about twenty minutes assuring the alien girl that she did not, in fact, hate the manner in which she breathed.) Robin always had been a challenge, but she was happy to note that at least tonight, she had finally broken through his relaxed demeanor and made him react. She felt rather proud of herself. After all, that was what she had been trying to do the entire evening. Until that moment, however, he had been too preoccupied with the movie to react no matter what she tried.

Outwardly, of course, she was still as stoic and calm as ever. With the exception of the left eyebrow she had once again raised to show her disbelief. "Oh, do forgive my lack of knowledge," she said sarcastically. "I was defining classics with the likes of _Casablanca, Citizen Kane_ and the sort."

"Well that's your problem," he pointed out smugly. "Your definition is too narrow." He shook his head. "Just because its not in black and white, doesn't mean it's not a classic, you know!"

"Oh, you're right." And even though her words sounded as if she had conceded, the look on her face spoke to her tenacity on the point. "It's the meaningful plot, good direction, excellent acting and captivating camera work that make it a classic…" she looked pointedly back at where the Conan the Barbarian was wreaking havoc. "All of which are _obviously_ present in this amazing specimen."

"Even that definition of a classic is too narrow," he insisted, smoothly ignoring her sarcasm. "_Conan the Barbarian_ is what is known as a _cult classic_ right along with _Army of Darkness _and_ Fright Night_ and…"

"Cult classic," she scoffed. "That's a meaningless term created by people who were too upset that what they found riveting didn't hold up to the much higher standards of other works…" she folded her arms against her chest and glared at him when he laughed out loud.

"You're probably right," he conceded simply. "But it doesn't change the fact that despite it being filmed over twenty years ago, people still rent them, buy them and watch them…even quote them." He shrugged. "That's what a cult classic is," he said. "A movie that despite being low budget and not having gotten good reviews when it came out, has survived and is remembered and still watched today." He shrugged again and his expression was one of self-assurance almost to the point of being cocky. "Can you say the same thing about _Citizen Kane_?" He shook his head and answered his own question. "I doubt it."

"Do you mean to tell me that you can actually compare something like _The Attack of the 50 Foot Woman_ with _Citizen Kane_?"

"Sure."

"With a straight face?"

"What makes _Casablanca_ all that different from…" he trailed off, searching, "I don't know, _The Matrix_ or something?" he challenged.

She looked surprised that he would dare to make the connection. "I am not speaking about movies like _The Matrix,"_ she said regaining her cool composure. "That movie actually had a decent plot, excellent camera work and the acting, with the exception of Keanu Reeves, was actually watchable…we're comparing movies that you call _Cult Classics_," she trailed off and motioned to the screen where Conan was once again engaged in battle that he shouldn't win, but does anyway. "With movies that are highly regarded as movies that withstand the test of time because of the message they speak to."

"What does _Casablanca_ speak to?" he countered.

She raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding right?" she asked stoically.

"No," he told her seriously. "Please illuminate me."

"Have you ever seen _Casablanca_?"

He chuckled. "No," he admitted.

She realized that she looked as if _she_ were about to pop a vein and controlled herself immediately. This really wouldn't do. She was supposed to be aggravating him, not the other way around. He was the only one of the Titans that could so easily turn the tables when she felt like having a bit of fun by being purposefully irritating. "You've never seen _Casablanca?_" she asked, just to be sure.

"I know some of the lines just because they're in the common speech, you know, like 'Play it again, Sam,' and whatever, but…" he noticed she was shaking her head and trailed off. "What?"

"She never says that, it's a misconception."

He shrugged. "Well, I didn't even know it was a she that was supposed to have been talking."

She looked at him, clearly disappointed. "And you have seen _Conan_ how many times?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Guess…a round number?"

He looked at her and he was just barely restraining a smile. "Around 10 or so…give or take."

"You've seen this piece of film atrocity more than ten times and you've never seen _Casablanca_?" Her eyes had been slowly growing wider and rounder with each word until she knew she was staring at him in wide eyed wonder.

He grinned. "More _or_ less," he reminded her. "But yeah."

She sighed and shook her head. "The collective IQ of this world really can't be higher than ninety," she half-mumbled, "that this," she pointed to Conan on the screen, "is the kind of movie that people see dozens of times, that movies like _Triple X_ or _Fast and the Furious_ get made at all and people go see them while ignoring movies like _Casablanca_ just makes me really worry about the overall degeneration of the cultural society."

He was looking at her as if he had never really seen her before. He was smiling though, as if what he just realized about her was humorous. "You're a snob!"

She frowned. "What was that?" she asked, unsure she had heard correctly.

"You heard me," he insisted, the smile spreading. "You're a snob!"

She withheld her initial instinct to deny it with an offended exclamation and only frowned harder. "I have no idea where you would get such a notion," she said seriously.

"You are," he continued to insist. "You're a movie snob…" he leaned forward in the sofa, turning to her, completely ignoring the television and offering her a cheeky smirk. "You are one of those people who think that unless something is by such and such a director or follows a certain set of criteria for filmmaking or storytelling it's not worth the film it's printed on."

She wished she could physically wipe the self-satisfied, superior, condescending smirk right off his lips, but wasn't sure how to go about doing it without resulting to violence. "Your generalization is clearly overstated," she answered primly. "I have never said such a thing, and I wouldn't say that a movie is worthless just because it's not by such and such a director or whatever else you said," she argued. "On the contrary, new independent directors often make much better movies than established well known directors like Coppola or Spielberg often do, anyway."

"Fine," he insisted. "Maybe you're not a director movie snob, but you're the kind of snob that can't watch a movie just for its entertainment value."

"First," she started, her face once again serious, "That is not even remotely what the definition of snob implies," she told him. "Second," she continued before he could interrupt, "You speak of entertainment value as if there were some sort of objective ruler to which we could measure things up to." She shrugged. "You obviously are entertained by things which do not entertain me."

"That's my point exactly," he countered. "How can you discount something as not having any value when some people obviously find it entertaining?"

She was unperturbed. "Because whether a movie is a classic or not should not be based on whether it is simply entertaining," she argued. "To some people, watching an ant move across the floor is entertaining…" she thought of something else and scoffed, "Hell, some people find Beast Boy entertaining," she pointed out meaningfully. She shrugged superciliously. "That does not mean that the ant crossing the floor or Beast Boy's silly antics should be held up and considered _classics_ in the same caliber as a movie that takes on the themes of self-sacrifice and duty and loyalty and doing what you know is right despite the danger it may put you into or despite it not being easy or even fair the way _Casablanca_ does." She looked at him, convinced she had won that point, at least. "So just because a movie is entertaining," she continued before he could argue, "Does not mean that it should be a classic." He opened his mouth to argue, but she was on a roll and he was too slow. "And thirdly," she added, raising the appropriate number of fingers, "You point out that I am selective about what I spend two hours of my time watching like it is something I should be ashamed of."

His mouth closed and he stared at her for a few moments as if he were trying to see more than her physical self portrayed. "Have you ever done anything just because it was fun, Raven?" he asked, all the teasing having left his tone.

She felt the prickling of worry and pity coming off him and she closed off even the little bit of empathy she usually worked with, cutting off his emotions from reaching her. 'How did bothering him about something as inconsequential as movies go wrong so quickly?' she wondered. "That has nothing to do with what we were talking about," she said.

"Yes it does," he insisted even as she looked away from him and back to the television screen. He could feel her pulling away, but he wouldn't let her go this time. "Answer the question."

She was quiet for a long time and the only sound was the clashing of steel, the crunching of bodies as they hit the floor and short bursts of screams from the slightly muted television. "Fun without purpose is pointless," she finally answered.

She could feel him smile next to her and she couldn't help but look at him, her eyes searching him for what he found so amusing. "What's so funny?" she asked.

He grinned. "There was a time when you wouldn't have qualified your statement that way," he pointed out.

She looked confused as she went over her statement, looking for his meaning. "You're losing me, Robin."

"When I first met you," he began, leaning against the sofa, "you would have said only 'fun is pointless,' and not bothered to add in the 'without purpose' qualifier."

She frowned, pursing her lips and furrowing her brow. A full and outright Raven Scowl.

He laughed. "Don't look at me that way," he told her, shrugging. "You know I'm right," he didn't look at her, but she couldn't miss the grin on his lips.

She exhaled through her nose in what might have been considered to be a sulk had it been done by anyone other than Raven before turning back to the television without comment.

"You haven't answered my question yet, Raven," his voice intruded her mindless stare at the television.

"Are you losing your memory as well as your wits, Robin?" she asked sarcastically. "Of course I did."

"No," he said carefully, "You gave me a flippant automatic answer, not the true answer inside."

It wasn't hard for him to notice that she was annoyed and she hoped he would get the hint. She turned pointedly back to stare at the television. "Yes, well," she started when he apparently hadn't gotten the picture and continued to stare at her. "We don't all get what we want, do we?" she asked. "And anyway, _we_ never seem to finish _any_ thread of conversation." She turned to glare at him. "Has anyone ever told you what an _excellent_ conversationalist you are?" she asked sarcastically.

He chuckled and grew serious almost immediately at the sight of her glare. "Easily remedied," he said, nodding in mock seriousness. He faced her completely again, sitting on his leg which he had tucked under him. "I believe we were discussing your snobbishness toward cult movies and you were about to explain why watching a movie just for the fun of it is pointless."

She looked at him and for the briefest of moments, there was pure surprise on her features. Surprise and offense, an exclamation of defense perched on her lips. And just like that, she had gotten control over herself again and her face was once again a mask of serenity and mild annoyance. "I don't explain myself," she replied in her usual monotone.

He sighed as he realized she had managed to gain control over her emotions before she had answered. But Robin was nothing if not determined. "It's not about explaining yourself," Robin offered. "It's about helping me to understand you."

She looked at him and she had raised her left eyebrow in question again. "Me?"

He nodded. "You, you're point of view, you know…"

She sighed. "Movies should make you think," she said, carefully choosing her words. "They should be about more than just watching people kill each other or hit each other with sticks," she glanced back at the movie. "They should help you explore situations and…" she paused momentarily before coming to a decision and continuing, "…and emotions," she swallowed, "that you can't experience yourself."

It was his turn to be surprised.

"In other words, what I'm saying," she pressed, "is that it is beyond me why someone would dub something like _Conan the Barbarian_ a 'Cult Classic' when it has no redeeming qualities except to watch senseless blood and gore as you yourself admitted." She shrugged. "I'm not saying it doesn't have its place…" she trailed off as if she needed a moment to contemplate that possibility. "It's entertaining, I suppose, to a certain sect of the populace that want to watch a movie for no other reason than for its escapist qualities. But to say that it is good for anything other than that…" she shook her head. "is ridiculous," she glared at him, "And I don't think it's snobbish of me to say so."

He was looking at her in contemplation, as if he were trying to read her. Suddenly, he nodded. "Yep, you're a snob alright."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, for Azar's sake…" she mumbled under her breath, falling back against the sofa and crossing her arms in irritation.

"Okay, fine, prove that you're not," he challenged.

She looked at him and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "How?"

"Have you ever seen _Willow_?" he asked suspiciously.

"No…" she admitted.

"_Tremors?"_ he tried.

She shook her head in the negative, but she wasn't happy about where this was going.

"_Legend?"_ he looked at her expectantly.

"Are you sure you're not giving me names of movies that don't really exist?" she asked suspiciously.

"Are you kidding?" he asked, wide eyed himself. "You haven't even heard of _Legend_?"

She shook her head.

"With Tom Cruise?"

Again, she shook her head.

"About the Unicorns? It was Tom Cruise's first movie?"

She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. "I said, no."

He sighed, but continued bravely on. "_The Little Shop of Horrors?_"

She was getting annoyed again very quickly, but she dutifully shook her head again.

His eyebrows rose in what she could only guess mirrored the surprise must have been present in his concealed eyes. "_Grease_?"

She made a face. "Please," she said as if the very notion was offensive to her.

"_The Pink Panther_?" he asked hopefully.

"You mean like the cartoons?"

He was utterly shocked now. "No," he shook his head, then stopped. "Well, yes, but not really no…" he looked lost of how to explain it to her for the moment. "Kinda?" he tried.

She looked unconvinced, but still answered. "No."

He looked as if he were really losing all hope and was about to bring out the big guns: "_The Rocky Horror Picture Show?"_

She frowned. "No." Her expression was determined. "But I don't see what movies I have or have not seen have to do with me being a snob," she argued. "For example, I _have_ seen _The Matrix_ movies and I've seen Tarantino's stuff like _Pulp Fiction _and the_ Kill Bills_ and I've seen _The Birdcage _and _Trainspotting_, and most of Kubrick's work like _2001: A Space Odyssey_ and _A Clockwork Orange_, although I don't really know why I sat through the whole thing…"

"That doesn't mean you're not a snob," he argued.

She pursed her lips even tighter. "Well, if I can't prove it by the movies I have seen, and obviously we haven't seen the same movies, then how _exactly_ must I prove it?"

"To prove it," he started, looking back at the television, "You need to see _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_."

She looked at him suspiciously for a moment but he was looking at the tv and studiously _not_ looking at her. She sighed. "Fine," she consented. "I'll rent it tomorrow."

"No," he argued, turning to look at her. "Not rent…you need to have the whole experience."

"Experience?" she cocked a brow. "What experience?"

"Come and find out."

"Where?"

"The movie theatre," he replied.

"They're _still_ playing that in the theatre?"

He nodded, offering no more information.

"Fine," she replied. "Which one and when?"

He looked back at the television. "Tomorrow. We leave at 11."

"_We_?"

"You can't do _Rocky Horror_ by yourself," he answered in that all knowing fashion he was so well known for.

"Fine," she replied, looking forward at the screen again.

He was looking at her as if searching her for tricks. "And no phasing out of the theatre halfway through."

She frowned and although she didn't deign it with a comment, she didn't have to. It was obvious by his triumphant smile and cocky expression that he had realized he had prevailed.

"Wait…" she stopped from leaning back again. "Did you mean 11 _pm_?"

He nodded, unconcerned. "It's a midnight showing."

She groaned inwardly.

_xxxxxxx_

"So I repeat…" she emphasized, her own eyes back at the screen. "Why am _I_ here again?"

He grinned arrogantly, "Because you promised you would be."

"That was before you said 'the experience' included costumes."

He shrugged, but the grin never left her lips and she was all too aware of the sense of victory Robin was feeling. Even with the barrier placed over her empathy, she could feel that. She didn't like it. She didn't _hate_ it, but she didn't like it. She didn't really know what to feel about it.

"It's not like you're wearing much of a costume, Rae," he pointed out, looking at the few pieces of the French Maid's costume he had gotten her to wear (which consisted only of the lace hat and apron over her own black skirt and turtleneck.) 'But at least,' he thought, 'I got her into something other than her uniform, which is another plus.'

"Yeah," she pointedly looked at his butler's costume, "and who are you supposed to be?" she asked, looking at him. "Lurch?"

"Trust me," he grinned mischievously and handed her a water gun, keeping one for himself. "It could have been worse." She looked at it suspiciously. "Too late to back out now," he winked at her in the near dark.

She took the water gun he handed her, thinking, momentarily, to aim it at his face, but the movie drew her attention again. Suzanne Sarandon and some man she didn't recognize but who looked rather attractive even if he was geeky, were getting out of their stalled car and walking in the dark road. "What am I supposed to do with this?" she whispered.

"Shhh," he told her, pointing to the screen. "You'll know when to use it."

She spared a glare at him but when he just smiled as if he could feel it even without having to look at her, she frowned at the freakiness of that and leaned back in her chair, focusing on the movie.

Needless to say, it didn't take long for her to find out what the water gun was for.

Somewhere between the rice and the water gun rain, Tim Curry singing "Sweet Transvestite" and Suzanne Sarandon singing, "Touch-a Touch-a, Touch Me!", Raven started to get it. And in between the time that Robin was picking crumbs out of his hair from the flying toast and Raven getting smacked on the head by a roll of flying toilet paper, Raven started to actually enjoy herself.

It didn't matter that the movie was corny or that the plot was pretty meaningless or that the audience talked back in sync to the screen and threw props around the theatre in punctuation of the wonderfully seriously delivered puns as if they had done it a hundred times before. What mattered was that for this time while the movie was playing and the audience was participating, it didn't matter what might or might not be going on in the world or who these people were in their normal lives. What mattered was that throwing cards at the screen (while Dr. Frank-n-Furter sang about "…cards for sorrow, cards for pain…" no less) was funny. And even if she might never have thought she'd feel that way in the moment, it didn't matter.

By the time Robin handed her a flashlight, however, motioning for her to turn it on at the appropriate moment during the candlelight ceremony in the movie, she had admitted the truth to herself. Raven looked around the theatre aglow in candlelight, flashlights, and the light from lit lighters, and smiled.

'Fun for fun's sake, huh?' she wondered. She supposed this wasn't so bad.

"You're smiling, Raven," Robin pointed out just before everyone turned off their respective lights and the theatre was plunged back into relative darkness.

"Yes, well," she hedged, finally turning to him and allowing him to see her smile. "So maybe I've figured out that this movie actually does have some redeeming qualities."

He glanced at the screen and then back at her. "Oh, is that right?" he asked.

She nodded. "It challenges stereotypes and speaks to people who try to be something other than they are," she said just barely managing to remain serious. He was clearly unconvinced of her sincerity so she thought she'd dig a little deeper for the BS: "When Janet gives in to Rocky and asks him to touch her, she's giving in to her true nature rather than trying to be the proper, shy woman she had been forced by society to…"

Robin's face was so serious and focused that she hadn't even guessed what he was going to do until the squirt of water hit her right on the nose.

She blinked, momentarily shocked. Had Robin really just squirted her on the nose with a cheap 50 cent water gun? She was too shocked to even consider wiping at the water that was traveling down her nose and dripping off her chin.Instead, she opened her mouth to demand a succinct and expedient explanation, "Ro…" but another squirt from the gun landing in her mouth made her sputter. Her eyes opening wide, she raised her own gun. He, however, was prepared for just such a possibility because he put a finger on the gun and stopped the squirt before it had a chance to emerge.

He easily took it out of her surprised grasp and grinned cheekily. "This is the best part!" he whispered, wiping at the water on her cheek that she had failed to wipe away. He grasped her chin in his hand and turned her head to face the screen again. He leaned close to her, his mouth a few inches from her ear. "Watch," he bid.

His hand had wiped at her cheek, turned her head and removed all contact with her before she could even think of a single word to say. And although she managed to prevent any physical reaction to the unexpected contact, somewhere a few rows down a bucket of popcorn flew into the air and popped, raining down golden kernels on the inhabitants of the immediate area.

"Hey!" someone from the balcony exclaimed, "The time for the confetti already passed!"

"Virgin!" another voice teased. "Learn your script!"

The audience burst into laughter and Raven sank into her seat, trying to avoid looking at the confused face of whoever had been holding the popcorn. Luckily, no one would ever know it was she that had caused it, even if the guy whose popcorn it had been would forever tell stories of the strangely possessed popcorn.

It had not gone unnoticed, however, by Robin. His deep laughter made her blush for about five seconds before she re-grew her backbone. The only way she could think to show him how unaffected she was, though, was to sit up straight and stare intently at the screen while casually reaching into the popcorn bag he held and munching on the popcorn as coolly as she could.

After a while, she leaned toward him. He must have sensed her moving closer because even though he didn't look away from the screen, he leaned closer to her, too. She did not, however, look at him. "Robin?" she whispered.

"Raven?" he replied.

She glanced at him and saw the grin still on his lips. She turned back to the movie as the final scenes played out. "Fun for fun sakes not so bad," she whispered. She glanced at him again. "Thank you."

His grin widened, allowing the flickering lights of the screen to reflect off the grayish flecks in his otherwise blue eyes. "You're welcome."

She leaned back in the chair. "You realize you have to see _Casablanca_ now, right?" she asked quietly leaning close enough to him that her arm pressed against his arm.

He was quiet and she could sense his eyes on her. She turned to him with a knowing smile on her lips. "I recall no such agreement."

She quirked her lips, "Fair's fair…" she pointed out logically, "you showed me yours, now I get to show you mine."

He raised his eyebrow and leaned close to her. "Is that a promise?" he whispered.

She was about to answer when both of them realized that a face was leaning on the juncture of their two seats from behind. They turned to find thata man, rather young, not at all bad looking, and dressed justlike Dr. Frank-N-Furter, was staring at them.

"Can we help you?" Robin asked.

"I'm just waiting for you to kiss her and get it over with so we can go back to watching the movie," the man replied. He was noticeably not as annoyed as anyone else who had been unable to see his movie because two kids kept yacking might have been.

"Wha-?" Robin stammered, his mouth gaping as he sought the words to adequately explain himself to the man and what to say to Raven and…

"You don't…" Raven started, looking from Robin to the man and pushing away from how close to Robin she had somehow gotten, and looked around again, trying to find the words to speak even as Robin himself was stammering. Somewhere in the distance, a few more popcorn bags exploded and there might have even been one or two boxes of Goobers (and maybe a few Snow Caps) that flew into the air to the consternation and teasing of more of the movie-goers, but this time it really went unnoticed by the two flustered teens.

The man grinned mischievously. "I thought that would shut you guys up for awhile," he said and winked before leaning back into his seat and focusing once again on the movie.

Robin and Raven looked at each other in shocked silence for a few moments before Robin surrendered to laughter.

Raven, on the other hand, was angry. She really was. Who was this strangely dressed man to assume such things about her relationship with Robin? Who was he to make her feel…embarrassed? But as Robin continued laughing and the movie's credits started rolling and the lights came on and the people filed out, she found it harder and harder to hold onto her anger. She was angry…really…but she was also finding it difficult to keep from cracking a smile.

_xxxxx_

Later that night, or early that morning (depending on your point of view) Raven found herself discussing matters over cups of steaming coffee, tea, and various pastries with the Frank-N-Furter look-a-like that had sat behind them (whom they had learned was named Larry and an all around nice guy) and his long time girlfriend (who was coincidentally named Janet and was dressed like…Janet) at the local 24 hour diner. And as un-Raven-like as it might seem, once it had been explained to her that late night snacking and gossiping over the night's highlights was also part of the experience, Raven found herself unusually susceptible to the logic behind doing it. Hence, she didn't feel strange or out of place discussing the political ramifications of Shelly to the Victorian Era with a cross dressing straight man and his girlfriend over cinnamon buns and brownies as she otherwise might have been.

Eventually (sometime during the argument as to whether Frank-n-Furter's relationship with Rocky was based on that of Romeo and Juliet or better portrayed the obsession that underlied Frankenstein's creation of the Monster) Raven came to realize that not only was she experiencing a different side of herself, but she was experiencing a different side of Robin, too. And when their hands grazed as they both reached for the milk jug at the same time, rather than pulling away immediately, Raven met his eyes and offered him a small, tentative smile. When his hand relaxed and he returned her smile, she grinned, stuck out her tongue and swiped the creamer right out from under his fingers.

Larry just about laughed his butt off (which was a rather difficult thing to do in the dominatrix getup).

_xxxxx_

Not even the dawning sun made them realize exactly how late (or, early) it was until they walked into the Tower to find that all three remaining Titans were awake and sitting around the breakfast nook table.

They glanced at each other and Raven had to make a conscious effort to keep from laughing as her eyes fell on the remainder of his butler's costume.

"Need a mirror?" he whispered back to her as he rightly interpreted the look on her face and the reason behind it.

She frowned as she realized what he meant, "Need a tray?"

He frowned back at her. For a few moments, they stared at each other, trying to get the other to blink first. Almost simultaneously, they both reached to undo the easiest parts of their costumes, Raven pulling off the maid's hat and tugging at the ties of the apron while Robin finished taking off the tie he had already loosened.

When they had done the best they could to make their appearance as normal as possible, they started to realize that all hell hadn't broken loose.

Raven could see the same amount of apprehension in Robin's eyes as she felt at the quiet in the house.

"Should we look?" Robin whispered.

"Eventually, we'll have to," she pointed out.

"How should we deal with it?" Robin asked.

Raven shrugged, "Act casual, say nothing?"

Robin nodded. "Okay…" he inhaled deeply, "On three?" She nodded. He mouthed a count-down and when he reached 'three' they both turned.

Right into the shocked and surprised faces of their friends.

Raven recovered first. "Good morning," she spoke calmly, starting to walk toward the kitchen.

"Morning," Robin echoed Raven, trying to adopt her calm demeanor as he walked to the kitchen.

"Uh…" Beast Boy broke the silence of the others.

"Good morning?" Star added on a question.

Cyborg cleared his throat. "Feel like breakfast, y'all?"

Assuming that the Titans were not going to bring up her and Robin'searly morning appearance, Raven turned to find them still staring. "No, actually…" Raven started.

"Oh, that's right," Cyborg interrupted, grinning widely and raising what was obviously a tabloid, "you've already eaten, haven't you?"

Raven and Robin glanced at each other before turning to find Cyborg was not only raising the tabloid but his eyebrow as well.

Raven took a bottle of water and walked casually to the table where their friends were sitting and took the tabloid from Cyborg's hand. "Hm," she said as she glanced over the picture and the article. "I really hate those telephoto lenses," she mused aloud. "They always make me look way paler than I really am."

Robin had, by then, stepped up to look at the picture of Raven and himself sitting at the diner obviously having a good time with Larry and Janet. He read the headline, _Raven and Robin: Closet Rocky Horror Fans and Double Daters?_ And chuckled.

"Don't laugh," Raven demanded. "I do _not_ look that pale!"

Robin shrugged, "You just need to get some sun, that's all," he said nonchalantly, leaning onto the table and grabbing a piece of toast from Cyborg's plate.

Raven narrowed her eyes at him and put down the paper, "I don't _do_ sun tanning," she announced, walking after him toward the elevators.

"They have a spray on tan now, you know," he mentioned as they stepped into the elevator.

"Tan in a Can?" Raven asked, eyebrow raised, "Yeah…that'll be effective," she deadpanned as the doors closed them off from the rest of the team.

"Dudes!" Beast Boy exclaimed in surprise.

"You can say that again," Cyborg agreed.

"Friends," Star asked, looking from Cyborg to Beast Boy and back again. "Were Robin and Raven working as household staff?" she asked, confused.

_xxxxx_

**Disclaimer:** Why do you keep bothering me with these trivialities? If I didn't own them when I wrote thelast five parts, why would I believe I own them now? Like I'm really going to say, "Yes, I own the Teen Titans!"If you believe that, I have a Bridge to sell you, too.

**A/N:** What can I say about this one? It's a little longer, mostly thanks to Jurodan who suggested I add the last scene. The idea came to me from actual conversations that I've had with people I know. When I sent it to him, I asked him to think about while he read it whether or not the scene with them at the Rocky show was extraneous or whether it flowed with the rest of the story. As I had written it myself, I liked the scene and their interaction during it, but I wasn't certain about whether or not it fit. I guess it fit, because he suggested I not only keep it, but that I add the whole scene with them getting back in the morning to the Tower. So, if you like that scene, it's ALL thanks to Jurodan who suggested it. The whole idea of them getting home and the others' reacting to them was his, so MAJOR props go to him again for that. And as to _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_, I think anyone who hasn't had the experience, really should. Here's the website: http / www . rockyhorror . com / (without the spaces) This website has a section on "Participation" that has the script where you could find how/when you should use the props I mention in this story.

**Thanks**: I swear that I have the best of reviewers! You guys don't get mad at me for doing something this short and even understood what I meant about needing to keep it short in order to keep the feeling about the vignette! ((hugs reviewers to herself)) And, yes…you're all MINE. mwahahahahaha…. ((cough, sputter)) Okay…remind me not to do that again…  
_MsLessa_: YES! Tension in short chapter, yes! And you're right that it is like the realization she came to during the cooking! Thank you for recognizing that! Thank you, thank you!  
_SlverShdws:_ ((blush)) I get worried that some of them drag, (_Pasghetti_ especially I was worried about having dragged a little) so thanks for mentioning that it doesn't hit you as if it's dragging!  
_SnufflesWillRISE:_ ROFL. Nah…if a person was _designated_ to tell me that every day, I'd probably get annoyed really fast. Lol. But I don't mind spontaneity! Thanks for reviewing!  
_Mattb3671:_ I don't think it's so much about making Raven talk _too_ much, but more like what she says when she does talk. Thanks for reviewing!  
_Lolopixie:_ ((wink)) If I can't give you quantity, I try with the quality. Thanks for saying that I succeeded with this one, at least!  
_Absentia_: ((gets ready for long review)) Oookay…here we go…  
Yeah, your profile wasn't very enlightening in the way profiles normally are, but I got to say, it did help add as to the general 'Absentia' image I have in my head. ((lol)) And don't worry, it's a good one! I treat my profile as a kind of update page to let people on ff.n know what's been going on with me. I stopped trying to put stuff about me on there cause I never know what might or might not be interesting to anyone else. And if anyone wanted to know what I looked like, they could just go to my dA page and see the picture I have in my scraps section. ((shrug))  
Well, I haven't actually _started_ with any of the reading yet. It's on my list of things to do when I get (read: steal) a moment away from the rest of the stuff I have to do. ((holds up 'list of things to do' and when she lets go of one corner, it rolls down to the floor and continues rolling along the floor for about a mile)) At least, that's the way it feels. ((sweatdrop)) I will keep an open mind when I read it, though. I promise. I'm sure I'll love it. I know I love angst, so there's no worry on that front.  
((Adds Volpa Inu-Fics to her list of things to read)) If it's that long, I'll have to wait for a while to read it, but thanks so much for suggesting it! I hate when I eventually do sit down to read something and don't have anything good to read. And like I said before, the Sess/Kag pairing really intrigues me. (enough that I've told Puck to think of a scenario for me to write about, even if he hasn't come up with one…) I'm going to recommend you check out 'Technoelfie" on dA. (on the address bar, just put her name dot deviantart dot com and that'll take you to her page.) She's an amazing artist, but she tends to like the Sess/Kag pairing and has more than a few AMAZING pictures about them together. Even one of two Mir/Kag pictures which just take my breath away…and actually, one particular one that…well…if you've got an open mind, you should check it out…this pic was ultimately what pushed me off my a$$ to write Sin in the first place…( http / www . deviantart . com / deviation / 6978325 / ) But when you get to her page, definitely check out her gallery. She does a lot of Naruto stuff too, which I look at just because it's freakin' beautiful, but I don't really know that anime at all. As to which ones I recommend especially? "In The Rain", "Lie To Me", "Sesshou, Kag: Intimacy", and then she has a cute funny comic strip that she did called, "Sesshoumaru's Desk" which made me lmao. Any of her stuff I suggest…she's really good.  
I hope you enjoyed Sin. ((tries to be casual about it))  
You don't have to apologize to picking out mistakes. I know I was making excuses last response about them, and the only feeling I really get whenever someone points out my stupid mistakes is to feel stupid. But I really appreciate it if anyone takes the time to point them out so that I can make it better. I really have a tough skin about people pointing out my mistakes. Actually, it's not even a tough skin, it's about realizing why people point out the mistakes and knowing that it's only bound to make the story better so I don't get personally offended or anything about it. I think it has to do with the creative writing classes I took while in undergrad. They knocked that in to me. It's not a personal attack, and I know that. But I can't help but feel stupid that the mistakes got passed me in the first place.  
"Learn to Crawl" and Music: Yeah! Isn't that an awesome song? I really love it. Music is such an inspiration to me. I don't think this one (I just posted) had any music attached to it, but just because it was another thing that inspired it. But yeah, I do the same thing you do sometimes about setting up a playlist when I'm writing a particularly emotional scene. It's actually what I did with most of TaT. I actually have the playlist on my iTunes labeled as "workout" music and "Win-Win" music and titled by chapter mostly. ((grins)) I'm glad I'm not the only one that does that! I mostly do that when I know that I have to write something and don't know quite how to go about it, so I use the music to crank my creative motor. Micheal Buble, I actually saw the Starbucks commercial where he comes out because the girl is having the frapuccino or something and she keeps seeing him as he's singing, that's him right? I haven't thought to dl any music by him, but now I want to. Hehe…I have a folder in the pc filled with lyrics that I like, and then I have a subfolder in my fanfiction – teen titan fiction folder that says, "Songs for Inspiration". And whenever I find lyrics or hear a song I get a nip of inspiration for a possible fic, I put the lyrics in there. Then, I have a 'quotes' document where I c/p quotes that nip at my imagination for them too.  
Lately to add to that list has been "No Giving Up" by Crossfade, but all I'm getting visually is the Titans talking to Raven. (I put some songs on my PSP when I work out and blast the music in my ears and since I'm just working out, my mind actually gets some pretty good ideas then.) Another song I'm listening to lately that seems might prompt something is "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. It actually has a bit of a ukalayle using kind of rhythm. And the scene I'm getting with it has to do with a possible scene for one of the other stories I started with a few scenes that I called, "Hello My Baby". (The short summary of it is in one of the entries on my profile). Let's see…what else have I been listening to lately? Oh, yeah. The modern kind of remix of a tango song called, "Santa Maria (del Buen Ayre)" by Gotan Project. It's very sexy and full of just barely repressed emotion (just like most tangos are) so I actually dl a bunch of tangos. Don't know if I'll do anything with it, though. And there's a line or two out of "Cold" by Crossfade that strikes a chord in me, but I can't pinpoint from whom to whom yet. And there's another jazz song called, "Body and Soul" by Diana Krall that really triggers some deep angst emotions on Raven's part.  
I wrote a little more on Instinct (deux, hehe…) still on paper, but I think I have to really focus on it to get the idea of where it's going to go. Again, I feel now that the purpose of this one is to do a kind of lemony like scene, so heading in that direction is going to be a little difficult for me (for the same reasons I mentioned in the email) but we'll see…I already used Instinct itself as a kind of test to do something out there and kind of extreme already, so why shouldn't part deux be as extreme, right?  
Of the artistic stuff other than writing, photography is my thing, I guess. Even though I don't have a camera good enough to really take any good photographs, but a few of my better pictures are up on my gallery and some personal pictures of me and stuff like that are in the scraps section of dA. Mostly in my dA gallery is Inuyasha stuff I've written and put up there. I use it mostly for the journal feature.  
Speedy/Rae: Yeah, I know what you mean about having to work on his character. I think I'd end up just sort of making it seem as one aspect of his character. I re-watched "Titans East: I" yesterday actually and I couldn't help LOVING the way he totally kicked ass with the arrows. That kind of sure attitude when he fights just really rings my bell. And I think with Raven being the way she is, a good foil for her and someone who would do good to take her out of her shell, so to speak and make her do things that she wouldn't normally do would have to be someone with Speedy's kind of conceited and almost brash attitude.  
As to Rae/Red-X…well, you know where I stand with that now, don't you? ((secretive snicker))  
"_The fact that Robin suddenly realized all this was a bigger step towards loving Raven than it seems"_ (Quoted from your review) YES! Exactly! That's kind of where I was going with it! It's the truth underlying the quote that I used at the top (which, incidentally is what inspired the vignette) that made me realize that and made me want to write it out.  
"_How two people behave around others and away from each other is often just as telling as how they act when they're alone"_ ((grins mischievously)) So true. ((glances at Puck who is working his little fae butt off in coming up with a scenario)) I think that's what I'm going to try to focus on for the next vignettes. What I'm trying to do is keep it alternating between Robin and Raven's pov, (although it doesn't always work out that way) but my two options that I'm bouncing around is to have one where it's kind of omniscient pov which would be them dealing with the others and then go back to the alternating povs after that one vignette or do one vignette from each of their povs dealing with the others. I think I'm leaning toward the one omniscient pov vignette.  
I had even considered making one vignette where Robin was talking to someone else about Raven (of course, it wouldn't come up just out of the blue, it'd be round about) and another vignette where Raven was doing the same with someone else. That's another option…hmm…maybe I'll group it by having one vignette where they're dealing with the others in an omniscient pov and then follow it up with one vignette of him talking to someone else and another of her talking to someone else? The problem with that is that it wouldn't exactly be moments between them, then would it? ((sigh)) Don't know. Anyone's free to weigh in on this matter.  
_Cups_ still rules, huh? ((giggle))  
Truthfully, I don't know what the end of IOTAM will be. I have another couple of vignettes mostly done that are a little more blatant about the attraction between them and more significant in their conversations, so I know I will move toward having them face that attraction more and more openly eventually, but I don't really know how much when and exactly how I'll end it. But no, I'm not done yet. This has the feeling of being drawn out pretty much as long as people want it to be. Cause theoretically, I can find plenty of little moments to write about. Even though, I think eventually people will want to see them being a little more actually amorous toward each other and when I get to that aspect of it, THAT will start to bring the Moments to a close. ((waves)) Tootles!  
_The Omakeer:_ (4) Welcome back! I'm glad I didn't lose you! Thanks about liking the idea itself. I was a little worried about how it would play and whether it would be too OOC to be believable. And yeah, I mostly write out the chapters as long as the muse says the chapter has to go on for. Especially with these vignettes where each one is a kind of separate moment, I need to take it through until the moment's done. (5) That theory of course, showed in "Tea" especially, didn't it? I just looked at where I ended it and thought, that's it…it's done here. So I stopped. Whereas in the one I'm posting now, "Classics", I thought it was done but when Jurodan suggested I add the last scene, I couldn't help but follow it through and now I'm glad I did. I think it works especially well to round it all off. And yeah, you've got what "Tea" was about on the nose. As to whether they will become more attracted and show physical aspects of that attraction I am considering it. I've written out a scene that would kind of show that and I'm considering using it as a future "moment" but I'm not certain of it yet. But I am not averse to doing that if the muse strikes me to do one.  
_Kitty:_ thank you! As to them kissing…I don't really know. I have the feeling that unless I make it an angst-filled kiss where they don't know what to make of it when it happens, the kiss or any kiss between them will start to end the series and I'm not sure that I want to end it yet. I have a few more moments that I'm playing around with before I get there. Although I can promise you that eventually there will be some physical appearance of their attraction toward each other, I really believe right now that if it happens, it'll be near the end. Don't ever apologize for rambling! I love it. I feel like I'm actually talking to you in real time and like I'm getting your real thoughts on the subject, so RAMBLE on! ((grin))  
_Watergoddess08:_ Heh…I actually don't like tea at all. But yeah, that's what I was going for, about them not having to really talk to enjoy each other's company. ((grin))  
_Sealed flame:_ Actually, I'm more of a Law and Order girl myself, so I don't know which specific CSI he would watch. I didn't get that far into asking him when I wrote the vignette. Although I'm sure if I ever have to mention this again, I would have to ask him and he'd have to pick one. The pizza toppings are thanks to Jurodan who was able to pick out Robin's preferences in the episode, "Final Exam" and the Gatorade is just a personal preference of my own just as is coke. (I much prefer pepperoni and Italian sausage on my pizza myself…)  
_Jurodan:_ Ech…I was afraid of that. I might end up changing it back eventually. ((headdesk))


	7. VII: The Beholder

_**It Only Takes a Moment  
**__**Part VII: The Beholder  
**__**By Em**_

"_Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."  
Marg__aret Hungerford, Molly Bawn_

_"It's not what you see that is art. Art is the gap."  
__Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968)_

"I wouldn't have pegged you as a fan of the Impressionists."

"I could say the same about you," Robin replied casually.

One minute passed and then another and neither Titan moved or spoke. He knew it was pointless to even try to out silence her, but he gave it a pretty good try. He waited a good couple of minutes before turning to find her quietly contemplating the same painting he had been trying to figure out.

"You don't really like Impressionist paintings, do you?" he goaded.

Raven turned to look at him and raised a brow, "Did you even know this was an Impressionist painting before I told you?" she countered.

He nodded, "Sure," he answered. When her other brow rose to join the first, he grinned. "It says so right here," he pointed to the Museum Map curled in his hands.

She shook her head and turned back to the painting.

"So…" he hadn't taken his eyes from her. "Do you?"

She turned back to look at him. "Do I what?" she asked.

"Like the Impressionists?"

She turned back to the painting and seemed to renew her observation of the painting as she thought. Slowly, contemplatively, she nodded. "I do, actually." She cocked her head to the side and pursed her lips a little, "Not all of them, mind you," she offered, "The American Impressionist movement was a pale reflection, a copy really of the French Artists that created it."

He found himself smiling. He knew that lately, Raven was trying to be more open, showing and sharing more of herself with the others, but whenever she spoke as she just had, it felt to him like a small miracle. She started to move on to the next painting and he followed her. He looked at it for a moment, and could recognize the actual physical likeness the painter was trying to evoke; there was bridge, there were trees and there was lake and there was fallen leaves on the lake, (1) but he couldn't _feel_ for it…The painting felt cold, as if it were no more than paint on a canvas and he knew enough about art to know it was supposed to evoke an emotion. Maybe he couldn't feel for it because he felt as if he were looking at the scene through a pixilated scope, or through a glass speckled with drops of water and the result was to separate him from the painting. "How can you tell them apart?" he asked.

"Well," she started looking at him, "They're about different subjects."

He grinned at her obvious jab. "I mean how can you tell the difference between American Impressionism, the French Impressionism and the, what's it called?" he looked at his museum guide and pointed at what he was looking for, "Postimpressionism?"

She almost smiled. "I wasn't joking," she assured him. "It's all about the subject matter."

He looked unconvinced. "Like the flowers and," he pointed to the one before them, "ponds?"

She nodded. "Impressionists mostly painted landscapes, postimpressionists painted portraits and people and that kind of thing."

"That's the _Impressionism for Dummies_ explanation, isn't it?"

She didn't laugh, or chuckle, but her facial expression told him all he needed to know. Her humor was there, in the slight relaxation of her lips, the shape of her eyebrows, for anyone who cared enough to look for it. "I thought it appropriate," she answered as she walked away.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, realizing by the surprised and outraged looks of the other patrons of the museum that he had spoken too loudly. He was suddenly glad he had left his mask behind and was just a regular guy and not a hero with a reputation. "Sorry," he mouthed to them, looking sufficiently contrite before hurrying to catch up to her.

_x-x_

He turned his head this way and that, but it didn't change. It was a picture of a half naked woman stepping out of a bath with white draping cloth around her as if she were just about to wrap it around her. (2) It was quite striking and the woman was very beautiful in a classical almost unreal sort of manner, but he failed to see how she could stand looking at it for moment upon moment. What was she looking for? It wasn't like the Impressionist paintings that made one think that perhaps if you squinted the right way, you could maybe see something else, or catch a glimpse at a secret the painter wanted to hide in the imperfect strokes of his brush or as unspecific as the modernist art which presented you with shapes and asked you to find meaning in it. No, this was Pre-Raphaelite paintings and other than the thought that no one could be that perfect, the presentation was clean and crisp and rounded and quite pleasant to the eye. But it wasn't confusing or deep, so, what was she looking at for so long?

As he stared, unwilling to let her know that he obviously wasn't seeing what she was seeing by walking away before she did, he started thinking. Each style of painting they had seen had a name of the movement that spurred it. But why? How did they get these names? What prompted them? Who decided on them?

And this latest one, the Pre-Raphaelite movement…he scoffed. Raven glanced at him and he mouthed, 'what?' so that she went back to her inspection of the painting. What _was_ Pre-Raphaelite supposed to mean, anyway?

"Hey Raven?" he finally asked.

"Hm?" Raven answered, still looking at the painting.

"What is a _Raphaelite_?"

She looked at him in utter confusion. "Pardon?"

"Well," he turned to her, "If this is a _Pre_-Raphaelite painting…" he trailed off, motioning vaguely to the painting in the hopes that she would pick up on his meaning.

Predictably, she did and rolled her eyes at him in exasperation before moving on to the next painting.

He followed her and stared at this painting with much the same level of awe as he did the last one, which was, basically, close to none. Some of Beast Boy's Manga had the same style of painting as this one did.

"So you're not going to tell me, is that it?"

"The Pre-Raphaelite movement was advanced by a group of painters in 19th century England, who decided to take their artistic cues from the simplicity of the Italian painters before the time of the artist Raphael." She motioned to the sweeping fish tail curled around the beautiful maiden brushing out her long hair by an Oceanside with a gentle sweep of her hand, (3)"They were sick and tired of the materialism of their own era, so they wanted to focus on the myths and stories and mystical things that the painters before Raphael's time focused on. Hence, this is why The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood established during the very industrialized 1840s were painting pictures of things like the much simpler medieval period or the characters from Greek and Roman myths or of mythical creatures themselves like Waterhouses' _Mermaid_."

Robin nodded as he took in her much more complete definition. He turned newly informed eyes to the painting before him. Hand raised at his chin and brows furrowed in thought, he shook his head. "It still looks like Manga to me…" he mused. He ignored it as he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of Raven lowering her head into her hands in momentary despair. "Or Disney," he amended, looking at her. "Maybe Warner Brothers."

Raven sighed and seemed like she wanted to say something else but decided, at the last minute, against it. She shrugged, "Well," she mused, "It's art…what you see is what you see."

_x-x_

"You didn't have to come you know…"

"There was nothing else to do at the Tower…"

She looked at him, not even bothering to hide her surprise at his statement. She opened her mouth to call him on it and he chuckled in recognition at the oddity such words coming from his lips was.

"At least," he continued on before she could speak, "Nothing that was important enough to let you come all the way here by yourself."

She _almost_ scoffed and seemed to remind herself that such visual shows of emotions was beneath her just in time to leave it at a disbelieving glance. "I can take care of myself," she reminded him bluntly. "If you came it was because you wanted to come."

He stopped and looked at her, "Well," he started pensively, "If I wouldn't have come, how would you have gotten here in the first place?" he asked logically.

She met his gaze evenly, "I fly." She shook her head, "Just admit it, you were bored and invited yourself."

It took him a moment to realize that there was actually no counter argument to that logic. "You…" he faltered, knowing that he had to say something but completely at a loss as to what. "Would have gotten tired and might have fallen and hurt yourself." He winced even as he said it and hoped she wouldn't notice, even though he knew he had lost the argument even before he tried.

Raven, for her part, continued walking. "There's always the train," she said casually, "a taxi, a bus…" she let it trail off.

"Okay, okay," he spoke into the silence, "So I invited myself, you're right," he looked at her and grinned non-apologetically. "You didn't need me at all, I'll admit that," he said good naturedly. He glanced at her, "If you don't enjoy the company, I can always go…" he motioned to the door where they had walked into the room and presumably led eventually to an exit. When she didn't immediately respond or look away from the painting, he shrugged and started to walk away. "Okay," he said, trying not to hate that his comment which was meant to get some sort of reaction from her had painted him into the corner or having to leave. "See you late…" He couldn't finish the sentence, however, as the words stilled in his throat at the feel of Raven's hand pressing into his arm. He went perfectly still, the way people do when a bird suddenly alights on their arm and they're afraid that any sudden movement will frighten it away. He could not keep from turning his gaze to her. But by then, she was no longer looking at him (if she ever had been) and the touch on his arm was gone, leaving only the barest hint of warmth through the fabric of his jacket to signify where it had been.

Just when Robin might have started to wonder whether he had imagined it to begin with, Raven shook her head. "It's not the company that I mind," Raven spoke, her voice neutral. "Its feeling like I'm holding you down for a root canal that I don't like," she admitted.

He laughed and it attracted the attention of those patrons nearest to them. Raven noticed and continued walking, as if embarrassed.

"I like museums alright, I guess," he admitted when he caught up with her in front of a Rodin. "But it's just that when you said you wanted to go to Gotham, I never thought we'd end up at the Gotham Metropolitan Museum of Art."

She looked at him, slightly surprised. "Well, logically, you had no reason to guess or assume I wanted to come to the Museum of Art," she conceded, "But your tone implies that the very idea of me wanting to visit a museum is beyond comprehension."

"No…" he agreed, busying his sight for a moment with the marble statute before them and taking a moment to appreciate the lifelike quality of the work. He really thought it might come alive and breathe at any moment. "It's not beyond comprehension," he explained. "But of all the things to see in a city like Gotham, that someone, _anyone_, would decide to go through all the trouble and travel all the distance _just_ to visit a museum…" he glanced at her, his head cocked a little to the side as if he could investigate Raven's expression the same as he could the one on the statue's. Upon finding nothing to help him finish his sentence on the lines of Raven's face, he shrugged, "I don't know, it's just a little surprising, I guess."

Raven seemed to be waiting for him to give her something else, some other explanation that he couldn't exactly give because he didn't know what to look for in order to give it. "What would you think I'd take all the trouble to see in Gotham?" she asked pensively.

He looked at her, caught off guard at the question. "Well…" he scratched at the back of his head. "Truthfully, I never thought of what else it might have been, but was just surprised when we stopped here."

"So you didn't know what I'd want to do in Gotham and invited yourself anyway?" she pressed.

He looked very uncomfortable, mostly because he hadn't yet decided why he had wanted to come to Gotham so much when Raven had mentioned to him in passing that she was off to the City that he would just get up and go with her without once considering what she was planning to do in the city. He had figured that since she hadn't shot him down at his mentioning joining her, it hadn't been any personal errand. He hadn't considered anything beyond that assumption.

"Yeah?" he finally answered when it seemed obvious Raven was waiting for a response from him.

She seemed to be trying to read him, taking advantage of having his full face to investigate and Robin had never felt so naked in his life. He had promised to try to lead a more normal life, and he knew that included not always hanging around with his mask and uniform on all the time, but the mask made him feel more than just cool (4), it made him feel safe in some ways from the probing eyes of others.

Eventually, she shrugged. "It's not too troublesome," she admitted, "the same as you might travel some distance to see a show a certain theatre is putting on when the shows that come to your town are not of interest," she tried to reason. "The museums in Jump don't compare to the caliber of this one," she explained. "And besides," she pointed to the sculpture of Eros and Psyche.(5) "This is a collection on loan from the Louvre," she said as if that should explain everything.

"If you want to see stuff from the Louvre, why not just go to Paris?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes, "Yes, because I can just up and go to Paris the same as I can come to Gotham."

"At least at the Louvre, there's a better atmosphere than there is here."

She stopped walking and stared at him. "You've been to the Louvre?" she asked, disbelievingly.

He nodded carelessly. "Sure, haven't you?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're not serious are you?"

He grew serious. "Of course I'm serious," he replied. "Why wouldn't I be?" he asked. At the look on her face, he started to realize that she was actually a little bit shocked. "Why is it so hard to believe that I've been to the Louvre?" he asked. "That's like one of _the_ stops Bruce insisted we go to when we went to Paris a few years ago."

"I see," she said, growing serious and continuing to walk.

"Haven't you been?" he pressed.

She shook her head. "I've never been to Paris," she answered.

And the reality hit him like a ton of bricks. Of course she wouldn't have been to Paris. She came to Earth to strictly to help protect it from the threat of Trigon and traveled to Gotham to accomplish that purpose, then to Jump City to continue it. Why would she have gone to Paris? There was nothing there she needed, nothing that served her purpose. And now? He wondered. Now she was a heroine who had taken on the mantle of protecting and serving even after her own personal demon was vanquished, but who still didn't allow herself the pleasure of doing things she might want to do just because. Except that she had…a small thing…just coming to Gotham with no other purpose than to see a collection on loan from the Louvre at the local museum. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

He was pleased at figuring that out for some reason and couldn't help but smile, "Well, it's a very beautiful city," he told her.

"I'm certain," she agreed monotonously.

"We should really find the time to go there sometime."

She glanced at him and then quickly, albeit casually, away. "We?" she questioned.

He nodded, but as she wasn't looking at him, he decided to verbalize it. "Sure," he answered. There was something about her appearance, the air around that he couldn't help but feel just slightly uncomfortable. As if a sudden tension had fallen over them that hadn't been there before, and he didn't even want to consider why that might have been. Still, he instinctually tried to remedy it; "Can you just imagine Beast Boy on the Champs Elysees?" he asked with a grin.

The tension was gone like the fading mists of morning as the sun rises; disappearing almost completely, but leaving the faint scent of its presence lingering on the breeze.

"Or Starfire at the Eiffel Tower?" Raven added, glancing at him with casual eyes.

"Yeah…" he answered, smiling out of habit. "And Cyborg…" he added hurriedly, then paused in thought "Would he even like Paris?"

Raven nodded without even having to consider it. "He'd be all over the Pompidou Center." Raven met his eyes and shrugged a little, "He's not much into modern art," she conceded, "But he'd be really amazed by the architecture."

Robin pictured the modern looking building with its multi-colored pipes along its outer face and grinned in silent concurrence. "And the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay for you."

She rose a brow, "You'd have to leave me there and go on about your business."

"Are you kidding?" he scoffed as if it weren't even a matter up for discussion. "And not be with you when you found the cafes where they invented Goth?"

She looked at him as if wondering if he was serious. "The French didn't invent Goth," she countered. "The British did," she shrugged. "More or less."

"Well, Goth, Beat, whatever."

She smiled. "Beat wasn't invented in…"

He stopped her with an upraised palm. "Whatever, you know what I mean…it was big in France, wasn't it?"

She finally nodded her assent and moved on to the next sculpture. "Still," she spoke after a few moments of quiet inspection of the newest piece of art they had walked before. "We?" she glanced at him significantly.

"Of course," he insisted. "Don't I get to go?" he asked her.

"Well, you _have_ already been."

"Doesn't count," he argued.

"How could it not count?" she asked. "Unless you were only there for a change of planes, it does count."

"No," he insisted. "It doesn't count because I didn't really enjoy my time there," he confessed.

She was quiet for a moment, her brow furrowed, as if wondering whether she should ask or not. Robin, meanwhile, waited for her curiosity to get the better of her. He never knew if her curiosity would overcome her sense of privacy and personal question boundaries, but he waited, on the off chance that this particular subject would, knowing that the having her ask was worth a little bit of waiting.

"Why not?" she asked, turning to him.

He smiled and tried to keep the triumph out of it. "Because I went with Bruce and it was more like an education expedition than a _true_ French experience."

She looked, for a few brief moments at least, utterly confused. "So you would have preferred to see the nightclubs or the game rooms rather than visit the Louvre, is that it?"

He put on an offended air. "I resent that you think game rooms and clubs are all I enjoy doing."

She raised a brow but didn't comment.

"I didn't enjoy it not because of where we went, but because of who I was with…" At her look of expectation for him to continue explaining, he went on, "Everywhere we went, I saw couples holding hands, bathed in the golden twilight of a Parisian sunset or riding on those silly little Vespas and looking like they were having the time of their lives, or groups of friends talking in rapid French huddled together around rickety old café tables. And me?" he looked at her and shrugged, starting to walk to the next sculpture so that she had to follow him or lose the end of his explanation. "There I was, lugged about like a spare piece of luggage by my adopted father…" he shook his head. "Paris is not the kind of city to see with a parental figure," he explained. "It's the kind of city to experience with a lover," he said casually. He stopped walking and smiled at her, "Or friends."

"I see," she answered, walking on ahead of him.

_x-x_

"Next time, I pick," he announced.

"At least I didn't pick a place that had been closed down for months," she countered. (6)

He glared at her. "Am I never going to live that down?"

"No," she answered easily.

He sighed audibly. "I think I would've preferred it if this place had already closed down…" he mumbled as he searched his pockets for his keys.

"Did you really enjoy nothing of the exhibit?"

He heard the seriousness to her voice, the underlying remorse and the teasing look was gone in an instant. "I was just joking," he told her honestly, smiling a little. She raised a brow, clearly unconvinced. "The weapons room was kick ass," he grinned.

She sighed and shook her head. "Figures," she announced to no one in particular.

Robin laughed as he straddled the motorcycle and put the key in the ignition. "Dinner?" he asked as she approached.

"Sure," she agreed. "There's this Indian place…"

"My turn to pick," he reminded her.

She shrugged and straddled the bike behind him with relative thanks to having worn jeans instead of her uniform as well, "Fine," she told him, "So long as it's not hotdogs from the stand across from the park."

Robin paused mid-motion and glanced back at her. "Well, if you're going to be picky about it," he said defensively.

"I'm not being picky," she countered in mild surprise.

"You're being picky," he insisted categorically.

"Picky implies that I am insisting on something that is uncommon or illogical," she told him snidely. "However, _no one_ would consider _hot_dogs," she emphasized the word as if it were something that tasted foul in her mouth, "as dinner," she finished.

"I would," he countered.

"Only because you're cheap."

He turned to glare at her, a look of flabbergasted surprise on his features, "I am _not_ cheap…" he argued, offended at her insinuation. "I just happen to like hotdogs."

"Look," she raised a hand as if to placate him, "If it'll get us a proper meal, I'll pay," she offered helpfully.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "I am seriously getting offended here."

She shrugged. "Don't worry about it," she insisted. "You brought us all the way here, and it is the 21st century, so it's only fair if I pay…"

He was already thinking about ways to prove to her that he wasn't cheap, the explanation that he happened to like the hot dogs in this particular stand and missed them when he was away from Gotham too long already on his lips when he caught the glint in her lavender eyes. She was purposefully goading him!

She must have noticed that he had finally caught on because her lips relaxed in that way they did when she was close to a smile. "You can have a hotdog if you want, but in case you decide against it, I brought enough money to pay for both of us."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Over _your_ dead body," he replied, ending the discussion by turning his back to her and turning the key in the ignition, "Indian it is."

She smiled in justified success and settled her legs on the passenger pegs. "Make a left at the next light." To her credit, she kept the gloating out of her voice and focused instead on holding on to the hand grips at the back of the seat.

"Right," he confirmed.

"No," she argued, leaning a little forward as if to make herself heard over the roar of the motor, "left."

Robin looked back at her just in time to catch the last remnants of the teasing smile on her lips before she managed to look serious again. She really was joking with him. He turned back to her again, hands still on the handlebars and raised a brow to her. "Do you want to eat, or do you prefer to dine on snarky remarks all night?" he challenged.

She shrugged, smiled that non-smile of hers and leaned back to grab hold of the hand grips. "So long as it's not hotdogs," she answered just when he thought she had decided against continuing the argument.

"That's it," he said, as he turned and pushed off the curb. "No desert for you!" he exclaimed with a backward glance, like he really minded all her teasing.

Even though he didn't.

_xx_

**Notes- (Remember to remove the spaces to the internet addresses because I had to put them there cause otherwise ff dot net won't let me put them up. Also, if it deletes the beginning of the address just start from the www.)**

(1) "Japanese Footbridge" by Claude Monet. You can see it here: http / www . cs . njit . edu / mili / index files / footbridge . jpg

(2) "The Bath of Psyche" by Frederick Leighton. You can see a part of it here: http / persephone . cps . unizar . es / General / Gente / SPD / Pre-Raphaelites / Big / Psyche . jpg

(3) "A Mermaid" by John William Waterhouse. You can see the picture here: http / Persephone . cps . unizar . es / General / Gente / SPD / Pre-Raphaelites / Big / AMermaid . jpg (remove the spaces)

(4) Reference to the episode, "The Quest" where the whole team dresses up in Robin's costume when Robin's off on a Quest with the True Master and wherein at the end, Raven says, "You know, Robins, I have to admit, the mask makes me feel…cool." and Robin who shows up behind her replies eventually, "You know, Robins……the mask makes me feel cool too." (For transcript of the episode, go here: http / www . titansgo . net / transcripts . php ? ep 404 )

(5) "Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss" by Antonio Canova currently on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. I don't know if it ever tours. Honestly, I tried to research what pieces from the Louvre ever went on tour and I couldn't find a reliable site that talked about such things. I happen to know this sculpture is at the Louvre because I saw it there myself. However, if it tours or doesn't, I don't know and frankly, I doubt that it would since it's marble and incredibly heavy. (Although honestly, what do I know about how and what can tour from museums?) You can see a picture of it here: http / www . scils . rutgers . edu / mjoseph / CP / erospsyche2 . jpg (remove the spaces) (Just as a side note, this is one of my absolutely _favorite_ sculptures of all time. I was thunderstruck by it when I saw it.)

(6) I couldn't help it. This is a reference to the blurb on Cartoon Network that shows Robin sitting on the curb in shame in front of a closed down movie house with Raven standing and saying, "Nice work, boy blunder. Look, next time, I decide on where we're going." Or something like that. It's great.

**Official Question 1:** I mention it in my responses to reviewers and I've mentioned it before, but now I'm making it an official question which you guys can vote on. If I get enough votes, I'll do it: _**Would you guys want to read the scraps or deleted scenes or behind the scenes scraps of writing I have on the various Moments and other Teen Titan Stories I've written?**_ My idea is this: Jurodan made a comment after "Cups" where he said he'd like to have seen what happened when Speedy gave Raven the 'Goths' mug. I wrote out a short, like maybe half a page scene where you see that. I don't have anyplace to put it. I also have several possible beginnings for Chapter 3 of _Tried and Tested_ that I didn't end up using. I also have other little bits and pieces here and there from various other of my Teen Titan fics. If you guys would be interested, what I could do is set up a Live Journal account so that I could post those there. It wouldn't spam everybody when I do it and would only show up for people who go to that account because they want to. So…how about it? Anyone out there interested? If you're not, I won't bother and the scraps will stay in the confines of my hard drive until I get tired of them and delete them.

**Question 2:** Jurodan mentioned in his editing of the chapter that it seemed OOC that Robin would leave Jump for any reason other than to follow a villain lead or tip or something like that. He suggested in his editing that I should consider detailing a bit more why they went to Gotham in the first place. I think I did that a bit more in my tightening up after his suggestions, but he suggested that I make them go to Gotham for a tip on a villain. I didn't do that (sorry, Jurodan) mostly because I _wanted_, one of the main things I wanted to portray in this piece, was that Robin just sort of up and went with her for the hell of it. I think I show that now in this rewrite. My question is: Is it too OOC? Would you guys read through it better if it was that they went to Gotham for a tip on a villain and sidetracked to the museum?

**A/N:** I don't really know what to tell you guys about what inspired this one. I got inspired to it quite awhile ago and just kept seeing bits and pieces of conversations between them while they were touring a museum. I didn't want to put them walking from piece to piece and room to room and I didn't want to write out all the details about how they got there. It wasn't until I had written out a number of the little scenes already that I realized I might just be able to keep it like that without having to put in the gap fillers. And then it all just sort of fell together.

I'm terribly sorry about not having posted something sooner than this. I will have you all know that it wasn't for lack of trying that I didn't get something up sooner. As you might have seen from the "Provisional Order" I had set up before, this next chapter was supposed to be a multiple pov fic temporarily called, "Pool". That one went way out of control, all the characters took it over and pretty much kicked Star out of it and it became more about something else than what I wanted the multiple pov for Moment to be about, so I stopped writing in it, put it aside and tried to get myself to write another mult. Pov. The other scenario I came up with was about them all watching a movie together. It started out alright and the scene was there in my head, but when I started writing it, Puck got bored with the idea and walked away from it and left it hanging there. Then I started to get anxious about not having posted something for y'all and so I dredged up an idea I had seen in a moment of what I now admit must have been extreme sleep deprivation. In my desperation, I convinced myself that it was silly, but okay and so I filled in the few gaps in it and sent it to Jurodan. Thank the Lord and Lady that I did that because he saved me from a great mistake. The vignette I called, "Fork" was a disaster. It might yet survive as a totally independent one-shot but I'm going to have to change it from Robin/Raven moment to Raven with someone else, maybe Cyborg, maybe Beast Boy. Not in the romance department, just in the experiencing something totally silly together. I might just scrap it all and to hell with it.

Actually, what I've been considering doing, as a side note, is to set up a LiveJournal account where I can post scraps and discarded bits and pieces of my writings, kind of like a "Deleted Scenes" or "Alternate Scenes" repository so that I don't lose it altogether and someone might read it and be amused by it, but I don't have to try and salvage it or toss it altogether. What do you guys think about that? Would y'all be interested?

Anyway, yeah, so finally, "Art" came to be. I'm pretty pleased with it. What do you guys think?

**Thanks & Limited Responses:** Again, immense amounts of gratitude and thanks go to _Jurodan_ for his incredible and tireless work as a TT Beta. (After the "Fork" debacle, I thought you might have fled the sinking ship…) I'm glad he didn't though! Also, there is a special thanks going out to _Absentia_. She listened to me rant and rave about my dry spell for the next chapter and bounced around ideas with me in the hopes that something might stick. And poor Abbie…I sent the file of this vignette to her but she's been trying to get everything together to send me all in one and I wanted to post this before Wilma hit (the hurricane coming this weekend) so I'm posting it before Wilma hits and _maybe_ knocks out my power and/or internet for who knows how long. Anyway, when Abbie sends me her corrections, then I'll edit as necessary. ((huggles both Jurodan and Abbie)) How did I get so lucky to have two such wonderful people willing to read my average writing?

**General Thanks:** I got about 42 reviews for Chapter 6 alone and one-hundred and forty something reviews for the 6 chapters in total. I don't think I've ever had so many reviews for six chapters ever. I'm floored. Thanks go to each and every one of you that take time out of your lives to drop a line of encouragement or suggestions or even just (especially) of critique or to tell me what you liked. Remember that just because I don't reply directly to you below doesn't mean I didn't read your review, it just means that I only want to reply to those people that I actually have something specific to say to them. But I cherish and appreciate each and every one of your reviews. I really do! Thanks a whole bunch.

**BronteJD:** Hi! ((waves)) I think I just realized that I never responded to your response to me through LJ. (puts it on list of things to do) I promise that you will get a response from me through there…sooner or later, anyway. I'm really glad that you caught on to the subtleties that I try so hard to instill in the story. It was my main purpose for writing it, afterall. I realized I don't do well on the whole with PWP stories and I kept getting all these little almost independent scenes in my head of moments between the two birds that might eventually lead to something deeper, so I thought I'd explore just those moments and see what happens. As for the kiss…WOW. In all honesty, I haven't even considered how I'm going to have them kiss…((waits for the onslaught of fan disbelief…))

**LM22102:** Am I really on your links bar? ((blushes profusely)) Thanks!

**SnufflesWillRise:** Oh, don't I know it? I'm sooo lucky to have befriended Absentia! She's such a great reader and so prolific in her own right I feel unworthy to have her read my stuff after I've read hers! So, I definitely know how lucky and honored I should be (and am) to have someone like Abbie (Absentia) as a friend and fan. As for trying to get her to update Awk Ent: Well…I've tried to get her to update another one, I forget the title of it right now, one of her first ones, but Abbie's muse is every bit as flighty as mine is (as a matter of fact, I'm certain they go off cavorting together every so often, even though Raef, her muse, I'm sure would die before admitting it…) and she is even a firmer believer than I am about writing only when inspired and not forcing the stuff to come out. So, although I can offer her an ear to listen to plot devices and hope to encourage her that way, I am weary of actually bugging her too much about it cause she's not the type of person that I think that would work on…(although, Abbie, if you read this and think you're otherwise, let me know and I'll bug the hell outta ya if it'll get you to update that story…you know which one I'm talking about…) Thanks again for the review, Snuffles! And I hope to hear from you again.

**Pandora;** You know, I was particularly fond of "The Game" too. "Cups" is a favorite of mine simply because it kind of wrote itself, but I really liked "The Game" because it kind of got Raven into a slightly different sort of element. I hope you like this one too!

**Morbid Original:** Could I persuade you to tell me what about that excerpt had you confused? I'd be happy to try to explain it if I can and you might help me make the chapter itself clearer if I can.

**Katylar:** I should kill myself for not having mentioned "Monty Python" in that! ((bangs head against wall)) Especially since I'm a big Monty fan myself. I don't know what happened. I think it's mostly that I got suggestions for Cults from a bunch of people, including my real life best friend and such, so I just added as many in there as I could. I could have just kept going and going, I know, there are so many wonderful ones. To this day, my best friend and I will see a movie that we know as a cult and look at each other and point and go, "CULT CLASSIC!" like I was still making a list. Thanks for putting the review together the way you do! I look forward to it, since it touches on so many aspects about the story that I like to know how its perceived and such.

**Kimou:** Wow. I am incredibly honored by your comment. Thanks go beyond saying. But if you're still looking for some pretty good Rob/Rae fics, I mostly read only Rob/Rae fics in the Teen Titan fandom, so you might want to check out some of my favorites. Or if not, I might be able to recommend a few.

**Bluefuzzyelf:** OMG…that's so cool! You were one in Rocky Horror! ((fangirl squeal))

**AinoMinako:** Yeah, they've stopped playing Rocky Horror in a lot of cities, or so I've heard. They used to play it at a midnight showing every Friday close to where I live and that's where my first 'virgin' experience of Rocky Horror was and I put that kind of atmosphere into the place where Robin takes Raven here. And yeah, another reviewer mentioned Monty and if I would've reached, I would've kicked myself. I can't believe I didn't think of them. But I drew a blank thinking of cults with the exception of Rocky Horror and Conan which kind of inspired the piece, so I asked my movie-buff friends for 'cult classics' and was supplied with most of the ones I used that way.

**Raven Ariana:** Thank you! Your guess is pretty correct. I'm not exactly 'young' although I am holding on to my youthful perspective as long as I can…((laugh)). I'm 26 years old, soon to be 27 (maybe I'm 25 going to be 26? No…no…I think I was right the first time…I kind of forget what number I'm by lately…mostly cause I refuse to think about my age in any constant basis…I hate to feel old.) I would love to read your stories and give you feedback, but unfortunately, right now I don't have much disposable time that I can take to do that. BUT, if you would like to email me with a link to your profile and reminding me that I asked you to so I could read your stories, I'd have the link there. My email is kind of my list of things to do in a way and I go through it and clean it out every so often, doing the things on the email as I need to, so I might not be able to read too many of your stories, but if you have one or two short ones you'd particularly like feedback on, if you send me the link in an email, I can try to get to them eventually. I'm sorry I can't do better. I feel horrible, but lately, I haven't even had time to read the stories on fanfiction DOT net that I'm addicted to.

**Sarah Cabbage Patch:** I love your stories, too! ((represses fangirl squeal)) I think we should write up a petition to get the Rocky Horror showings back again.

**Boongdaba:** Might that be because they really aren't that bothered? They already went a little ballistic by the insinuations of Larry, the guy they went to the coffee shop with, remember? Maybe they know that tabloids print all sorts of stuff and they're immune to it? Maybe they're just playing it casual and saying nothing in front of the other Titans? Maybe they've really just been out too late, are sleep deprived and really don't care at this point? Pick a possibility, any possibility. The interpretation is all up to you, since the characters themselves didn't tell me what they wanted the interpretation to be, I'm pretty much as in the dark about why they weren't more shocked or bothered by the tabloid as you are. ((shrug)) As for what possessed me…((laugh)) I really don't know. I had a fun experience watching Rocky Horror and it's definitely an iconic cult classic if there ever was one, and like I said for the chapter's AN, I was inspired mostly to do this kind of vignette by actual discussions I've had with people about movies.

**The Omakeer:** BLASPHEMER! You MUST see Casablanca. Citizen Kane is one of those movies that is excellently done and very deep and full of meaning, but not necessarily a great or interesting plot overall. There is nothing about Casablanca that is not plot driven with a lot of character development in there as well. You either like or hate every character in the story, none of them leave you antipathic or cold. I highly recommend it. As for your questions: I think I just didn't want to bother about the whole mystery of Robin's eyes in these vignettes. I know it's kind of fanon that Robin never takes off his mask and it's a whole big deal (that even I have played up in a few of my stories: namely, _Tried and Tested_) but these vignettes were more about the other things than that. I have considered doing a part 2 to _Instinct_. I have more or less the beginning and set up of it worked out, but I don't know what the main plot of it is going to be yet, although I'm leaning toward making it a kind of PWP and leaving it light and fluffy with as you said, "Raven is in heat" and "she and Robin tease each other."

**SuiJin**: It might be fun to set up a poll of sorts to find out which vignette is everyone's favorite. It seems to be a close tie between 'Cups' and 'The Game' for first with a few of the others trailing and shifting for second. I think VI was also one of the longer vignettes which is why I hadn't really shifted them from locations. This one, VII, takes them around one location, but the main reason I didn't do much with locations before was because it never seemed to me that the location was all that important in the other conversations between them. But honestly, I was starting to wonder if all they would do is talk while no one else is home. I'm starting to try to challenge myself a little bit as to their locals. I hope it works out well. Thanks!

**Merciful Sky:** Wouldn't it be great if we could bring back the Midnight Showings and all of us get together to go to it in one place?

**Absentia:** ((waves)) I feel a little weird responding to you through here since we talk so often off these responses. But anyway: ((clears throat and goes into professional mode)) I'm so glad you caught the whole thing about how Raven derives pleasure. I don't think anyone else mentioned it so far and I thought it was a rather Raven-like thing to do. Larry was not an intentional jab at SD AU. At least, not a conscious one. I just picked a random name, first name that came to mind thing, since he wasn't a particular important character. But now that you mention it…it might have been a subconscious thing…((LOL)) I don't know that I am going to do too much with the jealousy thing, mostly and in all honesty, because I enjoy using that device too much in my other stories or plot lines (as well you know by now) and I think I wanted to keep this one as simple (overall plot wise) as possible. I will have to deal with the Star/Rob thing, I can't get by it frankly, you're right in that. And Puck's playing around with ideas as to how to face it. I have an idea in mind, but I have to write it out to see if it works well enough or if it feels or reads like a cop-out. I don't think it's a cop-out, but it might read like one once I get it down, so we'll see. But I promise that I'm not just going to do the "how do we break this to the…" line. As for the team, I've been putting in small hints that they more or less are getting an idea of what's happening between them, mostly I put it in with "Pasghetti" and "Classics" and maybe even a little bit with "The Game". I haven't known how to deal with Star's reaction, but a way of dealing with it is working itself around and I might even put it a bit of how Beast Boy might feel about it in the same chapter. If you're interesting in throwing around that idea with me, let me know through your next email or when we meet on aim and I'll share.

As for all the extraneous stuff you mentioned, I think we've been over them through other emails or aim, so I won't re-comment on them, but if there's something we haven't mentioned…oh, the only thing I can think of is the S/K possibility. I'm sorely tempted to do something with that, but I don't want to do one that's clichéd or overdone, I want something new and original and I just haven't come up with what that might be yet. Sesshy is a stubborn kind of guy and Puck is a little bit afraid of him, I think.

((shakes head at !Muse Theatre!)) Poor, poor Raef…the things they make you do, huh?

((Puck frowns)) "What's so bad about making her muse the center of attention? Em doesn't make me the center of attention nearly often enough…"

((Em sighs)) Yes, Puck, you would think that way.

**MsLessa:** I'm not planning on making mention of him watching Casablanca in any of the next chapters, although you never know what might come up in conversation between those two…Goddess knows I don't. BUT, I have been playing with the notion (as I mention somewhere above) of setting up a "Deleted Scenes and Scraps" journal on LiveJournal where I can post all the little scraps of behind the scenes kind of things I might want to post that aren't good enough or long enough for an entire vignette/post by themselves in the story. (For example, I'm considering putting in a short little scene where Robin walks in as Speedy gives Raven the infamous "Goths" mug from "Cups") and if I do it and if you'd be interested in reading it enough to inspire Puck to write out the scene, I wouldn't mind putting a short scene of Robin watching Casablanca in that journal.

**Watergoddess08:** The media has telephoto lenses that can take pictures from a very long distance off. They do it to celebrities all the time. I'm assuming that's how they would get that picture.

**Al The Pirate:** ((blushes)) I prefer Goddess if I had the choice, since you asked. ((DOUBLE blush))


	8. VIII: Puppies, Penguins, and Bunnies

**A/N:** Hurricane Wilma's a-comin' so you guys get this one before I would normally have put it up. It didn't go through my normal rigorous editing and self-editing, so if you guys find some booboos, do let me know, k? About the story…yeah…um…not all _Moments_ are momentous, I guess.

**Special A/N:** I always keep my promises! I set up the livejournal account just for my teen titans extraneous stuff that wouldn't make it enough to be an independent story or chapter. So far, I've got the scraps and deleted scenes and alternate scenes up from _Tried and Tested_ as well as one snippet deleted scene from _It Only Takes A Moment: Cups_ and a few random peices of stuff from inside my head, like songs that are inspiring me right now and stuff like that. You can find it here: **www . livejournal . com / emsscraps** (remove the spaces, please). If you've an account on livejournal you can add me to your friends and comment or something so I can add you back, but even if you aren't, I've left it so that guest users can comment on my stuff, so feel free, k?

_**It Only Takes A Moment  
**__**Part VIII: Puppies, Penguins, and Bunnies  
**__**By Emania**_

"_What hath night to do with sleep?"  
_- John Milton

"What?"

Robin twitched just slightly at her voice breaking into his consciousness. It was the only thing that gave away the fact that he was at least a little bit surprised at her sudden question. "What was that?"

Raven didn't look away from the TV or even sit up. "You've been staring at me like I have a horn coming out of my forehead."

Robin frowned, "How do you know that?"

She sighed, "I can feel it…" she glanced at him as if he were just slightly daft, "Empath, remember?"

He nodded and smiled, "Ah, right."

"So?" she prompted, "What is it?"

"It's just…" he trailed off and she raised her eyebrows, prompting him to continue. Completely lacking in any other way of saying what he had to say, he went for the obvious; "you're wearing pjs."

She looked down at her legs, which were extended on top of the coffee table before them, as if she didn't actually remember what she was wearing and needed visual confirmation of his observation. The tiny penguins in winter scarves and hats scattered on the wintry background stared back at her innocently. She blinked a few times and just barely avoided smacking herself for having exited her room without remembering what pj pants she was wearing. (Or at the very least, grabbing a robe) She closed her eyes tightly, 'Please wake up, please wake up, please wake up, please wake up…'(1) she chanted mentally. When, upon opening her eyes, she realized she was still sitting where she had been and Robin was still waiting for her to say something, she sighed. 'Well,' she thought practically, 'there's no escaping it now…might as well play it like you meant to do it,' she told herself.

She turned back to him and managed to put a look of bored neutrality on her face, "Yes, so?"

Whatever he had been expecting her reaction to be, that was obviously not it because he looked surprised and unsure of what to answer. At her obvious expectation of an answer, and his lack of ability at providing one, he resorted to shrugging and staring back at the slightly muted television where Scooby Doo and Shaggy were making fools of themselves again as they ran pell mell through a haunted castle.

Realizing that he would not say any more on the subject, Raven followed his example and turned to stare at the television as well just in time to see Scooby jump into Shaggy's arms before they both bolted for the nearest door behind which the ghost would inevitably be hiding.

It occurred to her then that she was actually watching Scooby Doo cartoons. Any other moment her reaction might have been different; perhaps some indication of embarrassment, confusion, or maybe even disgust. Certainly her sarcasm and her trademark cynical wit would make itself known. But she recognized that there wasn't anything else that she particular wanted to watch and so any adverse reaction she might have shown seemed to have been neutralized into silent submission. It wasn't that she was interested in the show itself; after all, everyone knew the ghost wasn't really a ghost but some guy in a mask and that at the end he would be unmasked by 'those pesky kids' while Velma explained away the way he did it. But it wasn't about interest in the show at all…it was more about watching something that kept her vision entertained while requiring the least amount of mental effort as possible.

'There was nothing like _Scooby Doo_ or _Tom and Jerry_ when you were too tired to sleep,' Raven thought. Her body was exhausted and mentally, she didn't want to think anymore than necessary…gods knew she couldn't make any logical leaps on this night, but she couldn't close her eyes and allow herself to rest. Normally, she was rather good at being able to silence her mind enough to sleep whenever she needed to sleep. Occasionally, however, there were days such as these: days when no amount of meditation could keep her from reliving the day enough to rest and despite her eyes burning and her muscles aching, she was too mentally restless to enter even into her regenerative trance. Sleep, therefore, was (at least temporarily) out of the question. So, instead, she was trying to numb her mind into submission by watching badly animated and predictably plotted cartoons with a seventies soundtrack and a talking dog.

If she had been more awake, however, Raven might have realized that this was a habit she had picked up only recently. She might also have realized that it was one that she obviously shared with Robin since he had already been sitting on the couch with the television on when she had shuffled into the common room. She might have even wondered at what it might all mean. Since she was not awake enough for complex thought patterns and self-analysis, Raven neither thought nor did anything more than scoff in what might have been a chuckle when Scooby's tongue swiped at Shaggy's humungous gazillion scoop ice cream cone, leaving him with nothing.

She felt the weight of Robin's stare on her again and sighed. She still didn't bother to move from her very comfortable slouch on the couch, but did spare him a sideways glance. "You're doing it again," she pointed out.

He looked away immediately, but before she could even think to be glad about it, he was back to looking at her. She turned her head all the way to look at him, knowing without any other clues that he was going to give in to his desire to say whatever it was had been on his mind.

"It's just you've been wearing a lot of pjs lately…"

She blinked at him, waiting for the next part of whatever equation he had worked out in his mind that was drawing his attention. Under normal circumstances, there would probably have been one or two sarcastic remarks pertaining to the depth of his perceptive abilities, but since she was functioning under less than 3 hours sleep in the last 48, the only thing she did come up with was an astute, "And…?"

He was obviously fighting to use whatever logic was left in his just as tired brain in order to verbalize in a way she could understand what exactly was bothering him about her wearing pjs. (That was, of course, aside from the obvious fact that she was wearing pjs with little baby penguins on them. Which she had already decided would bring about his certain and untimely demise should he even think of commenting on in any way other than casually in passing.)

"I guess it's just that I had always thought you slept in your leotard," he tried. "But lately, you've been wearing a lot of pjs."

Deciding that his explanation was satisfactory and did not require any further thinking on her part, she turned back to the television. "I did," she admitted casually. "But I don't anymore…" she stopped herself and thought about what she had just said, realizing that it wasn't all of the truth. "Well, honestly, I didn't, then I did, and now, obviously, I've stopped."

She could almost hear the grinding of the gears in his head trying to work through her words to find the meaning in her less than coherent explanation and by the time she looked at him, he was frowning.

Apparently giving up trying to make sense of her words, he raised an eyebrow and folded his arms over his chest, "You're asleep, aren't you?"

She smiled in that sleepy way that said she might have actually laughed if it didn't require so much effort, "In all probability, yes."

He nodded as if everything made perfect sense and turned back to the television. Before she could do likewise, however, he remembered what the initial conversation had been about and he turned back to her. "Wait…" he started.

She sighed, realizing that he would ask her for an explanation. "When I first came here, I did not wear my leotard to sleep, but we got so many late night calls that having to put on my leotard every time became a hassle and frankly, it cut into my response time quite a bit, so I took to sleeping with it on." He nodded that he was following her so far and so she continued. "Then, after the whole Puppet King fiasco when Starfire and I spent some time in each other's bodies, I complained about the length of her outfit and wondered at how she could fight crime and do what she does without fearing that she'd flash someone," Raven noticed the way he almost choked on his own saliva and seemed as if he wanted to forget that she had even vaguely mentioned something so inappropriate, but she ignored him and continued explaining, "and after some talking, ultimately she confessed to being surprisingly comfortable in my leotard and in the end, I told her that I would recommend wearing a leotard except to sleep…" she trailed off and took a deep breath as she realized that he didn't understand why she wouldn't recommend it to sleep in. "The spandex," she explained, "It is very uncomfortable material to sleep in and rather hot, in any case."

"Ah," he nodded in understanding. "Makes sense."

She nodded. "Anyway," she continued, "About a week later, according to Star, she was in the mall and was drawn to a display of pajamas by the cute pictures of bunnies on them and when the sales lady explained that they were to sleep in, Star bought them for me." She stopped and shrugged. "Obviously, she must have thought I slept in the leotard because I didn't have anything else to sleep in…or something of the sort." She looked at Robin and shrugged again, "What could I do?"

He nodded again, definitely understanding. "Just wear them," he answered.

She nodded. "So I wore them," Raven continued. "But after a while, Star realized that I wasn't wearing them and assumed it was because I got bored of them, so she bought me three new pairs," she raised the appropriate amount of fingers. "So I had to wear those too," she looked at him. "Funnily enough, this all coincided with a period of time when most of our fights were taking place during the day or at least not in the middle of the night, so I wasn't having to change into the leotard in the middle of the night in any sort of hurry and eventually…" she paused, wary of admitting the next part of the story.

"You grew to like it," Robin finished for her, smiling knowingly.

Raven's hands went to the material of the pants on her legs and she rubbed her knees for a moment, feeling the softness of it. "Well, they're really comfortable," she admitted defensively. She frowned at the penguins still staring cheerily at her and cocked her head as if to better view them. "They're not the best themed, granted, but…"

"How many do you have now?" Robin interrupted.

She thought about it and shrugged.

Robin didn't buy it for an instant. "Oh, come on…" he pressed.

"A few," she answered.

Robin was grinning lopsidedly at her again. "Well, let's see…that I've seen you wearing there are the bunny ones, these penguin ones, the witch ones, the ones with the little devils…"

"Those were Halloween themed from…"

"Uh-huh," he said unconcernedly. He continued relentlessly, "The dark blue satin ones," he ticked off on his fingers.

Raven stared at him as if he had grown another head. It was strange and slightly disconcerting that Robin could so easily mention the different pj sets she had worn in the last few days.

"Oh, and the ones with the Scottish terriers on them with the big red bows…" he continued to count.

'Granted,' she thought, he was known for his detective skills and his memory and perceptiveness were part of that, but for him to notice the Puppy Pjs as she called them? The puppy, penguin and bunny pjs were ones she avoided exiting her room with at all costs. (Except for when she was too sleepy to realize she was wearing them, of course) 'When,' she wondered, 'had he caught her wearing the puppy and bunny pjs?'

"And the ones with the butterflies on them and the purple plaid ones," he continued, stopping only momentarily between bursts as he thought, "Oh, and the other satin ones in the dark red, and the ones with that 'Foamy' squirrel on them and the ones with the Monopoly pieces all over them and the ones with the red lace along the bottom and around the neckline and…"

She cocked her head to the side. Had she really worn that many out of her bedroom? "Okay, okay," she interrupted before he could continue; "I've got a lot of them, over twenty, okay?"

"And how many did _you_ buy?" he asked.

Raven narrowed her eyes at him, "Aren't you getting a little too nosy?"

Robin winced but managed to grin in that annoyingly confident way, regardless. "I was wondering when you'd pull on the breaks."

Raven turned back to the television screen, "Consider them pulled."

"I know Star bought you the ones with the bunnies…" he continued casually, also looking at the television, but obviously considering his options.

Raven was sorry to see he no longer looked as sleepy as he had before. "You're not going to let this go, are you?" she deadpanned.

"Without evidence to the contrary, I'm afraid I'm going to have to presume you bought the penguin ones since you like them so much…" he persisted.

"Your feeble attempt to goad me into responding is not going to work, Boy Blunder," she replied blankly staring at the television screen.

"Then how about if I just ask please?"

She did look at him then. "Why is so important for you to know?"

"Why is so important for you not to tell me?" he countered.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm way too tired to have a verbal-contradiction-sparring match with you tonight, Robin, although gods know we could go on for hours."

Robin was lightheaded enough with sleep that he considered making the inappropriate comment for more than his usual half a second. "It's more than just to see if I can make you tell me, Rae," he admitted.

She turned back to him and noticed his utter seriousness and knew with complete certainty that he was telling the truth. For some reason, beyond her immediate comprehension, it was important for him to know how many of these silly pajama sets she herself had purchased as opposed to those she was gifted with. Although she was incredibly curious as to what that reason might be, she trusted him enough to need no further explanation.

Raven shrugged and turned back to the television, "All the cutesy ones were bought for me by Star," she thought about it for a few moments, "I bought myself the satin ones, the jersey ones, the gray sweat pants, and the purple plaid flannel ones."

"Wow."

She didn't deign that with a reply. After all…what kind of reply could one offer for 'wow'?

They were silent for awhile, watching the television station announce a sale of bed linens at their local linen supermarket.

"I'm glad that you're feeling more comfortable around us, Rae."

Raven glanced at him, unable due to the suddenness of the words and her sleepiness to hide the shock from her expression, "Pardon?"

"That's why I wanted to know how many you had bought," he explained, shifting ever so slightly on the couch so that he could raise his own sweat pant clad legs onto the table next to hers and his arms loosely resting on his sides, his fingers right alongside hers, "Because it seems to me that if you feel comfortable enough to buy pajamas that means you're feeling less on guard around us," he glanced at her and smiled warmly, "and that makes me very happy."

She didn't know quite how to respond to that, so she resorted to the tried and true method of denial, "You sure do have a way of reading into things, don't you?" she asked monotonously. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the television. "They're just comfortable, that's all."

"And that's all?" Robin spoke two commercials later. "Just because they're _that_ comfortable?"

Raven nodded, "They're rather addictive, actually," she admitted absently.

Robin smirked and looked back at the television, "And not to mention sexy as all get out."

She frowned, but it wasn't as serious as it usually was. "Do you have some strange desire to have to suck you meals through a straw, is that it?" she asked, although it wasn't as threatening as it usually was. He shook his head, but the grin was still firmly in place. "Then shut up," she mumbled as she turned back to the television.

Robin laughed and turned to her, "I don't know where all the hostility is coming from," he casually commented. She narrowed her eyes and he turned back to the television. "What's sexier than puppies, penguins and bunnies?"

She scoffed, although she was certain he couldn't make out what she said, so she said something else, "I'm sure you can think of something."

He nodded, "Oh, yeah…"

"I'm sorry I asked," she turned back to the television. "Men."

He chuckled. "Well, I'm not the one that gave you a pair of boxers and a practically sheer top with spaghetti straps holding it up as a Christmas Present, am I?" he pointed out.

She didn't deign that with an answer, resorting instead to scoff wordlessly.

He glanced at her. "Not that any of us would mind if you wore the outfit…" he continued offhandedly.

"What are you implying?" she asked monotonously.

"Just that it would be a nice change of pace to see you in something casual…"

"Not gonna happen," Raven answered dryly.

"Something that displays more of your…"

"Just stop right there…"

"Natural…"

"I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you…"

"Why not?" he asked, the very picture of innocence.

She narrowed her eyes at him, "I don't like where that line of thought is taking you."

"It's not like you don't show more leg in…"

"If it wasn't because I know you're just trying to tease me, you would find yourself without a tongue right about now," she interrupted him again.

"It would just have you showing a little more…" he raised his hand in the general direction of his chest.

She looked at him so seriously he trailed off of what he was going to say and raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to speak with a slight smile. "Thank you," she told him seriously.

"For what?" he asked.

"For reminding me exactly how much of a _guy_ you really are…" she turned toward the television and reached for the remote between them, "Sometimes I forget that you're really not as mature as you otherwise seem." She pointed the remote control and raised the volume of the television, effectively dismissing him. "Letch," she mumbled.

He looked innocently at her, completely ignoring her not so subtle barb, "It's not so different from the pjs you're wearing now," he pointed out nonchalantly.

"Except that the boxer shorts ride up and practically show my ass cheeks," she retorted finally losing some of her calm.

He grinned stupidly at her, "_Oh...yeah_?" At her glare, he cleared his throat and fixed his face into neutral lines, "…is that so?"

She inhaled in order to regain her calm. "Shut up," she repeated.

"So does that mean you've tried them on?" he pressed, still grinning.

"Oh, look," she said with false brightness, "Another episode of Scooby Doo."

Robin chuckled at her attempt to change the subject and decided to let her. Deciding that any further pushing might just end with him maimed or worse, he re-focused on the television, "Yeah," he answered. "It's a marathon from midnight to 4 am."

She looked at the digital numbers of the clock reading three am and nodded, settling back into the warm cushions of the sofa. "So there's still another hour to go?"

"Yep," he confirmed.

"Nice."

Robin was silent for a few moments, then smiling, turned to her, "Yeah."

_xx_

**Notes: **

(1) Thiswas a comment that Jurodan suggested. I put it in nearly word for word, so he gets credit for coming up with it.

**A/N:** Okay, here I am again…asking y'alls advice. So, Jurodan brought up a valid point about the near end of this piece and although I find myself agreeing with him, I can't convince myself to change it. He said that Robin seemed a little too OOC near the end by hitting on her so overtly. First of all, there's a part of me that questions whether or not he really is 'hitting on her' at all. When I wrote it, it felt like he was just teasing her and he knew that this kind of conversation would make her uncomfortable, so that's what he was trying to do. Maybe subconsciously, he is hitting on her…((shrug)) dunno. But in any case, I agree as an editor and TT fan in general that whether it's hitting on her or teasing her, the end leans a little more than usual for me toward the OC-ness. But as the author, it just seemed like that was what had to be written. What do you guys think? If enough of you say that it bothered you and that it was too far OC for Robin to go, even though I tried to show that they were sleep deprived, then please review and let me know and I promise to work passed what Puck might think about the matter and try to change it or fix it, k?

**P.S.:** Any guesses as to how many of those pjs I own?

_xx_

**Thanks:** Thanks everyone for answering my question as to whether or not I should set up a separate lj account. I did! The addy's above in the a/n. So thanks again for answering that question and the other one too. I'm glad no one thought it was unbearably OOC or anything and I'm really really glad that everyone enjoyed the last chapter so much+grin+ Also, as always, a boat load of thanks go to Jurodan for editing this one.

**Lolopixie:** I did some research for this one, but mostly to tell the truth, I just remembered paintings and statues that _I_ liked and used them. Thanks and I'm glad you didn't think Rob was OOC. +grin+

**CompliKated:** Thanks for reviewing, then! Since you don't normally review, and you reviewed for me, that is almost double the compliment, so thank you muchly!

**LM22102:** ((blush)) Thanks for all the compliments, really. I don't think I'm deserving of all of that, but thank you just the same. I love y'all too. +grin+

**Tecna:** Hey, girl! Haven't heard from you in awhile, huh? Sorry for making your brain hurt. I'm used to having too much info (some of it useless) so sometimes I don't realize…+silly grin+

**Kitty:** Thanks for answering. Why don't you like the livejournal idea? I've found that generally it's better than the deviantArt idea because you can't comment on someone's page on deviantArt unless you're a member. About Raven cooking, I think I redeemed her before The End episode…I had her cooking in _Pasghetti_, remember? But it might not be a bad idea to have him showing her how to cook…but I'm not altogether certain that Robin knows how to cook much better than Raven does…other than his breakfast foods like in the Beast Within ep. Thanks for the suggestion!

**AuroraMikayla:** You know, I think you're right. It does add depth and the lack of depth is probably why it seemed a little OOC to me when I re-read it. +DOUBLEgrin+ Thank you for noticing that and bringing it to my attention! I feel so much better now! You got a "Yes!" reaction when you saw I had updated? Really? Wow. +wipes tear of joy+ Thank you!

**L'etranger:** I think they have several copies of that one statute and they have it at the Met and the Louvre and at one or two other museums but I don't remember which ones right now. Now that you mention it, I'm certain they can move statutes if they can move temples…you're right. Thanks!

**Spiderbob:** That you can reason out why he's not OOC so eloquently helps me feel better about my decision. Thank you! I think you expressed it in logic what I felt in instinct. So, I'm very glad that my instinct was right, or at least palatable.

**Princess 4 a day:** I'll try to make future ones as good as the previous ones. +sweatdrop+

**Lunabasketcase:** Where is everywhere? I haven't updated in awhile before I posted that last chapter, so I'm just curious as to where you could see it? And y'know…normally, I do the same you do: not want to see/watch the things everyone is talking about, but with fiction and fanfiction specifically, I tend to want to read stuff that everyone likes just because there's so much _stuff_ out there to read and not all of it is good so if more than a few people say they liked something, then I'll give that a chance before I give something else a chance. I, the author, think that these moments are eventually going to lead up to a kiss, but I'm not sure what Robin and Raven have to say about that. +sweatdrop+ And unless the kiss sort of sneaks up on me, the moment they kiss, it'll probably be the end of the vignettes.

**PHAOE:** Thank you. Glad to be back. Don't know how long it's going to last now that Wilma's on her way…

**The Omakeer:** YES! Thank you for noticing! Both that it was a date without being a date and especially that it was different because he was there for Raven. And of course, I couldn't help but make it so that Raven seemed a little oblivious to that fact. Maybe Robin's as oblivious to that fact as she is, huh? And maybe that's something to explore in a future vignette…+sly smile+

**Chrystis:** You know, you're one of a handful of people that realized that they were ever so slyly (maybe obliviously?) talking about going to France. Thanks for the encouragement!

**Azn Sister 92:** Thanks, miyuki. You're the second person I've responded to that's mentioned having caught the discussion of going to Paris! Now I'm thinking about expanding on that…Puck seems to like the idea…hmm…probably not for a _Moments_ vignette, but maybe a spin off? Hm…

**Pandora; **LOL. Nothing like a hurricane to throw my creative butt in gear, eh? I understand exactly what you mean by never having thought you could imagine them in that scenario. To be frank, I wasn't certain that it would work as a vignette because I was worried it was too OOC for them, but I'm glad that you could imagine it ultimately. (I like that part of the dialogue too. Thanks.

**Boongdaba:** (I like your name, btw!) I'm planning on continuing this one for a few more chapters at least…I have a few of them written and I know what I want for some others, but I don't promise how often I'll update, but I will eventually update. I think I've only ever left one story without finishing and that was because of extenuating circumstances (principally, I lost interest in the fandom together with the fact that no one seemed to have any interest in the story.) So, no worries. It will be finished. Don't know why, though.


	9. IX: First Snow

**+EDIT+ A/N:** I was in such a hurry to upload this before I left last night that I totally forgot to add one of the most important notes to this! PLEASE take a look at the notation for (1) that I have added near the end of the story and look at the notation...I forgot to give credit where it was due and I could never forgive myself if I didn't remedy it. Sorry, Abbie!

**A/N:** New year, new chapter. Hope you all enjoy it, I got into the spirit of the season.  
**Disclaimer:** Nope, the rights to Teen Titans were _not_ under my Christmas Tree on the 25th, so, nope...unfortunately, I still don't own them and despite needing money to pay off my loans, I'm _not_ getting paid for this or making a profit off of it, so...yeah.

_**It Only Takes A Moment  
**__**Part IX: First Snow  
**__**by Emania**_

"_When I no longer thrill to the first snow of the season, I'll know I'm growing old."  
_- Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson

She felt the cold. She really did, even though no one would have ever guessed by the stoic expression on her face, the calm and stillness of her stance, or the casually nonchalant placement of her hands at her sides. She didn't rub uselessly at her arms or shiver pointlessly the way Beast Boy did. And although she knew Cyborg didn't feel cold the way the rest of them did, she didn't use all the accouterments of winter that Cyborg indulged in like gloves and wool socks and ear warmers and the like. Star, everyone knew didn't really feel cold at all and it seemed that Beast Boy felt it more acutely than the rest of them (even though he could turn into an animal with lots of fur or a penguin or some animal that didn't feel the cold much at all). Robin, for all that he was able to control himself physically and could be as still as she could be sometimes, obviously felt the cold and showed it in the way he blew hot air onto his gloved hands whenever he was standing still.

And she knew that they all thought she didn't feel the cold…but she did.

It just so happened that winter was her favorite season so she was more comfortable in the cold than she was in the heat. The heat made everyone irritable and sweat was a lot harder to conceal than it was to hide being cold. But that didn't change the fact that she did feel changes in temperature just as much as any normal person did.

She didn't blame her friends for assuming she wouldn't be cold or for not bothering to wonder at whether or not she liked winter. She herself professed (or at least allowed the others to assume) that she felt neutral about seasons, as neutral as she felt about nearly everything else.

She didn't.

She didn't really feel neutral about _anything. S_he had very well established and firm opinions and beliefs and feelings about just about everything, regardless of whether or not she let any of the others know.

At first, she didn't care whether they thought about her at all, much less about what she might think about the seasons or other non-essential matters such as emotions and beliefs…what was more, she bred the understanding that she didn't feel or have an opinion about a lot of things. Her opinions were her own and they were no one's business and what she felt when it snowed or rained or when fog covered the earth was not only no one's business, but was privileged information that could very well be used against her in some shape or form and was better kept, therefore, internal. Or, at least, that's what she had been taught. And what she honestly believed when she first came to Earth and started to live with the Titans.

Lately, however...she wasn't so sure.

For some reason, watching them become so excited over the first fall of snow had made her wish that she could share in their joy. And when they had offered her no more than a casual grin and automatically left her out of their celebrating and happiness, without even attempting to convince her to join them annoyed her.

Her realization that it was no one's fault except her own changed the annoyance to something else she refused to name. Could she blame them for assuming that she wouldn't join them even if they asked? How were they to know that Winter held a special place in her heart? How _could_ they know that she thought winter was special. That for her, the First Snowfall was sacred.

At least, it used to be.

Raven no longer kept with many of the old ways, but she couldn't help but feel the remnant of the awe the Priests and Priestesses instilled in her as a child. Despite herself, a thrill coursed through her as the flecks fluttered to coat the ground. It was an amazing realization because it reminded her of just how perfect nature actually was. When it rained and when it snowed especially, it was like a gift from the gods, a gentle reminder from the Mother herself that she still watched over her children, still guarded for their existence and took care of their comfort.

On Azarath, it was a holy day, marked by celebration and games, and feasting and things that even she, the semi-ostracized half-demon childling could become a part of. On Azarath, even she had been included in the festivities of the First Snowfall...

Here...

She watched as her friends played just beyond the window where she stood. It didn't matter whether or not she was physical inside or outside the Tower, the partition _she_ had created was permanently raised between them and that it allowed her to gaze out and see them, but which never allowed her to get close was an added torment.

She sometimes fancied that the wall had developed cracks and weaknesses over the years, that after the fall of her father it had been worn thin in places, like an old scrap of cloth—thin enough for her to feel that it might not be too difficult to push through it (should the moment ever present itself). And, it seemed to her that lately she had been able to go days without feeling its weighty presence at all. Then, there were days like these, and the wall appeared again: perfect and flawless, all too real and no less cold.

She knew, in that same part of her psyche that liked pink and flowers, that nothing was stopping her from simply walking outside to join her friends. She didn't _need_ them to ask her to join them, she didn't _need_ to wait for them to ask her whether she felt cold or if she liked it or not. It was only her pride that required them to ask before she would offer them the rare glimpse into one of her likes or dislikes. It was only her pride that prevented her from offering up information about herself.

But then again...it wasn't. Not really. On the contrary, it wasn't pride that kept her from starting a conversation with something like, 'you know what I like?' or 'Wait up guys, I want to play in the snow, too!'. She scoffed internally. No, it wasn't pride that kept her from being more open...not really. If she was being absolutely truthful with herself, she'd admit that it was nothing more complicated than the half-formed fear that no one would care. Or worse yet, that she would be ignored.

She was their teammate and they cared about what happened to her and they relied on her in battle, she knew this, but she wasn't always certain that they considered her a friend. Starfire tended to call pretty much everyone she encountered who wasn't an enemy, 'friend', so should it surprise her if she were to find out that she felt more deeply about their friendship than they did of hers? That she cared and needed them much more than they cared for or needed her? Sure, they called her a friend, but they all tended to use the term much more loosely than she did. (And she was so staunch in her belief of this that she pointedly ignored the internal emotions that were pointing out that Cyborg wasn't the kind of person to take friendship lightly, that although Beast Boy fooled around and thought of himself as the life of the party, he didn't really treat anyone other than the Titans as true friends, and that even Robin, in some ways, the most public of them all, was notoriously reserved with his trust or how she _knew_ that he associated trust and friendship and so although he might be friendly, that didn't mean he went throwing the word 'friend' around as if it were nothing.) But even _if_ she conceded those points to her less cynical emotions, it didn't really change their perception of _her_. If they but imagined how rare it was for her to call someone a friend they perhaps wouldn't doubt that she had feelings and emotions.

And perhaps, even beyond the fear or the insecurity, or even the pride, was the simple fact that she didn't know _how_ to tell them. Sharing had never been instilled in her, she had never had cause to practice it, and other than situations like with Starfire when they switched bodies and had no choice but to sit and share life stories, she had no idea how to bring up something of herself in casual conversation.

It seemed she had retreated so far behind that glass wall herself that now she didn't know how to come through it...she had, effectually, painted herself into a corner and didn't know how to get out without making a mess.

_xxxxxxxxxxxx_

Robin had wondered why Raven hadn't come out of the Tower for quite a while. (After all, there was only so much he could take of watching Starfire and Beastboy try to catch snowflakes on their tongues before it became old) He turned to look at the Tower, wondering how he should approach her to get her to come outside and was surprised to find her staring at them from the bay window. She looked as if she were very cold, even though she was inside the climate controlled Tower. He didn't know why he thought that of a sudden, but he did. It was silly to think it, though, and he knew it. Raven wasn't rubbing at her arms and she wasn't hugging herself...she was just staring at them all with that blank expression on her face that he knew meant she was feeling and thinking of more things than she wanted to let on to. (If she really felt neutral about something, her face was what he had come to call her relaxed expression but the only time she ever wore that completely blank expression was when she was thinking or contemplating something she didn't want anyone to guess at.)

He couldn't get the idea out of his head that she looked so alone, though, no matter how much he tried. Her eyes were fixed on Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire as they had a snowball forming match (to see who could make the biggest one, of course). If she really felt alone, all she had to do was walk outside. When she hadn't come outside with the rest of them?

'It isn't like you asked her to come along, either,' a voice inside reminded him.

He sighed. 'She would've just said no...wouldn't she?' he asked himself.

Initially, when they had all stormed the yard at waking up and finding snow had covered the ground as they slept, he had thought that she had stayed behind because she had something better to do. And when the time passed and she still hadn't joined them, he had thought that maybe she hadn't _wanted_ to come along. And even when he thought about getting her to come outside, he thought he'd have to interrupt whatever book she was reading and convince her to come along...but seeing her watching them from the window made him wonder at why she didn't come out and join them in the first place. He frowned and had just resolved to walk into the Tower and convince her to come outside no matter what it took when he realized that Beast Boy had transformed into a polar bear and was sliding down the snow right at the window.

Robin winced in sympathetic, expected pain.

_xxxxxxxxxxxx_

Raven felt Robin's eyes on her with something akin to surprise and at least a little bit of embarrassment. She had been caught. She didn't know how long he had been staring at her and frankly she didn't want to look at him to try and find out. She didn't know what to do or what he might be expecting of her, so she continued to stare at the others, watching as they played. Eventually, she decided to turn away from the window and walk away before the Boy Wonder got any ideas. (Of what precisely he might get ideas, she didn't know, but she knew enough to comprehend that he wouldn't be staring at her unless he was thinking up some plan or scheme that probably involved her in some way.) And so it was, as she turned her back on the Rockwell-esque sight outside the window that she was surprised by the hard and sudden thump against the glass.

Taking a moment to compose the surprise from her features, Raven turned back to the window only to find that Beast Boy's elf-like, distorted image was pressed against the glass. He grinned at having caught her attention his lips smooshing at odd angles as he moved them. When that elicited nothing more than a raised brow from her, he got that glint in his eye that warned her that he was going to try to make her laugh. (She knew that look well...) So, while still pressed against the glass, when Beast Boy started to make faces (now opening his mouth wide and pressing his lips against the glass then blowing so that his cheeks puffed up like a blowfish, then crossing his eyes and other silly faces that made Raven think of the way children played) she was at least somewhat prepared. Still, for a few moments, she stared in blank wonderment. When he started to pull away from the window and couldn't because his tongue had stuck onto the cold glass, however, Raven's lips relaxed into a bit of a smile.

"Ish aught fu-y!" Beast Boy exclaimed through the glass, looking frantic as his tongue would not dislodge itself. "Ahhh...'elp! Thybork!"

Raven brought a hand up to her mouth to hide the wideness of her smile, but when Cyborg appeared behind Beast Boy and started tugging on the changeling to free him, Raven couldn't help but chuckle at the spectacle as Beast Boy exclaimed for him to be gentle...except, it sounded like, 'gen'le!' By the time that both of them lost their footing on the cold slippery ground and fell ass first in a puff of snow (releasing Beast Boy's tongue from the glass with an almost audible 'pop' in the process) Raven laughed outright.

Beast Boy stopped dead in his exclamations of pain and Cyborg's laughter died in his throat as they both turned to stare at her at the sound of her laughter. Which only made Raven laugh even more. Finally reacting when Cyborg erupted into an even louder and more riotous guffaw, joined by Starfire's giggles, Beast Boy jumped to his feet and extended an accusing finger at Raven, "Thop 'affing!" he demanded, frowning at his resulting lips.

Now that Raven had started laughing, she had no intention of stopping, and so she didn't.

Beast Boy looked as if he knew he had to do something but when he tried to turn around, he only ended up once again loosing his balance which brought him into direct contact with the ground, once again. "I meanth tho do thath!" he exclaimed from the ground.

Raven controlled herself so she was only grinning rather than chuckling aloud and approached the glass to look at him. "Now _that_ is funny!" she told him. "You should stick with slapstick, Beast Boy!"

He narrowed his eyes at her, not bothering to get up, "Thure...everyone laugh it up at the green dude," he intoned. He allowed Cyborg to help him up and Starfire flew into sight of the window.

"Friend Raven!" she grinned, "Does this mean you are ready to partake of the merry making in this wonderland of frozen condensation?" Raven smiled at her, but stalled in her answer long enough to allow Starfire to continue, "I didn't wish you to be unhappy on this joyous day so I was good and didn't try to tempt you into joining us, but if you are done with your own enjoyments, perhaps you will share with us this one?" Starfire cocked her head to the side and looked positively radiant in her joy, "Please say that you will...it was very difficult to keep from intruding and asking you to come outside when we have missed your presence so!"

Raven was blown away by the alien girl's heartfelt declaration.

"Come on, Rae!" Cyborg chimed in, helping Beast Boy step away from the patch of slippery ground. "You've had the whole morning to yourself! I think it's time you got yourself out here to play with us!"

Raven blinked and could do nothing more than nod.

"You got five minutes before we go in there and get you, Rae!" Cyborg threatened.

"Yeah, least she could do is come out here so I can get back at her for laughing at me!" Beast Boy half mumbled to Cyborg as he was helped onto steadier ground.

Raven grinned as she turned around, meaning to walk to the main entrance rather than phasing through the wall. She was stopped short, however, by the silent figure of their leader standing not three steps behind her.

Outside, Beast Boy was still mumbling about honor and how he was funny without having to resort to slapstick but inside, there was only the distant whirring of the ventilation system working. She hadn't even heard him walk into the room. If he had been an enemy...

But he was smiling and she didn't want to think about enemies.

"I think you've offended his honor," Robin said, motioning the window and the scene beyond it with a nod of his chin.

Raven gave in to a smile, "Yes, apparently," she admitted. "Although he _did_ finally make me laugh," she pointed out in mock seriousness.

Robin grinned, "That is true," he agreed, "But I don't think it was in the way he had envisioned it."

Raven shrugged, "Not much I can do for that."

He shrugged, "Well, what you could do is join us outside and give him a fair chance to pummel you with snowballs."

Raven sighed exaggeratedly. "I suppose so..." She shared another smile with Robin, "But I had already decided to go outside, you know," she said, looking away from him for a moment to adjust the fall of her cloak in readiness for outdoor wear. "You didn't have to come to convince me."

"I know," he answered simply, and his voice was so close that it surprised her and she looked up, only to find that he was a mere few inches away from her, so close that a deep breath would have them touching.

She resisted the urge to take a step backward and met his eyes instead, very conscious suddenly of her breathing. "Then why are you here?"

"Looking for you," he answered. "I've been here since Beast Boy hit the window."

"Oh," was the only thing she could think to answer. And before she could say another word, his arms were up and reaching for her.

"Here," (1)he said and with a quick flick of his wrists, she felt something soft and warm settle around her neck, where the edge of her uniform ended and where the cloak couldn't reach. It trapped her hair at her nape and his hands still holding onto the ends made her think of the way a cowboy would throw a rope around a calf, but she didn't move away.

His hands were moving again before she could take offense to her own analogy, tying the ends off into a neat and warm bundle close to her throat, "Take it," he said, reaching almost automatically behind her to gently cup out her hair before letting his hands fall back to his sides.

Shocked at the sudden and unexpected contact, she could do nothing more than look down dumbly at the red and green knitted thing now very snugly around her throat and it took her a few minutes to realized why it looked familiar: it was the scarf he had been wearing. She looked a question at him.

He shrugged, glancing at her only momentarily before looking away. "You look cold."

She blinked at him as she wondered what to say. She was surprised and wanted to say something, but she couldn't quite grasp what. "I..." she managed before a hard pounding on the glass interrupted them.

They turned to find Beast Boy, his arms wide to his sides, palm up in a 'so?' gesture.

"Coming, coming!" Robin called out, grabbing Raven's hand and leading her toward the door.

Raven, surprised, let herself be led outside.

Where she was promptly pounded by a snowball right smack in the chest.

She looked up at Beast Boy who was grinning from ear to ear, then to Starfire who was calling out how it wasn't fair to not even let her get her bearings, to Cyborg who was prepping a snowball of his own and finally to Robin who met her eyes and shrugged, a smile on his face.

"Did you know they were going to sneak attack me?" she asked.

"A good leader knows his team..." he hedged.

"Right..." she nodded and smiled...

And raised her hand...

And smushed a snowball right into his shirt, the smile never leaving her face even though her friends hooted and hollered.

He didn't have to ask how she had gotten the snowball (what good were her powers for if she couldn't use them to cheat during snowball fights, anyway?) but he did not look surprised as he shook off the icy mess.

"I guess I'm not the only one who's cold now, huh?" she asked.

She sensed it the split second before he was going to jolt into action and leapt out of the way before he lunged at her, running across the yard toward Starfire who she guessed might be her only ally.

And the truth was...despite the fact that she was now drenched in snow all along her front, side and legs, despite the fact that she was outside, falling on the snow as she ducked and dodged the oncoming flurry of snowballs, she wasn't so cold anymore.

_x- x_

**NOTES:** (1) Abbie, Absentia here on fanfiction and InAbsentia on dA reccomended this whole line of the story, about Robin giving her his scarf and about what he says to her. I took her recommendation almost word for word, so THANK YOU ABBIE for that...I can't believe I forgot to mention that the first time...((bangs forehead against wall in repentance)) Check otu her stuff, it's FANTASTIC...and maybe if enough people bug her about updating, she'll get some of her updates out faster! ((GRIN))

**Because I was reminded of this as I wrote Review Replies:**I have no count of how many pjs I have, but I have a lot...over 10, probably less than 40, more around 20 maybe? (and I just got two more for Christmas, so...hehe...) I have the penguin pjs, but there are no scarves around their necks, and I have the scottish terrier pjs and I don't remember what other pjs I said Raven had, but I probably used my own pjs for inspiration for those, so yeah. Did I say she had velvet ones? Well, _I_ do, anyway instead of silk and I obviously don't have Wonder Woman Pjs, although I do have Tinkerbell ones and Betty Boop ones. :GRIN: The witch ones were some of my favorites but they have gone up to that big Pajama Party in the sky now and the little devil ones are ones I bought for my best friend a couple of years ago. I have plaid ones and I really would LOVE ones with Foamy on 'em, but I don't have them. Oh and I've got a bunch of 'sweat pant' like ones (gray, blue, green) that I used while in law school when I would go to the school just to study and wanted to be comfortable and stuff like that. Oi...see what I mean?

**A/N:** A couple things I have to say for this one – About the work itself: First, I debated whether or not this should be part of _Moment. _I thought it fit rather well, but wasn't sure whether I wanted to have this kind of _Moment_ at all. However, perhaps because I wsa drawn in by the season, perhaps because Puck was sufficiently insistant, the one-shot got written and after it was written and I re-read it, and I was prepping it to send it to Jurodan, I realized, "hey...this does fit for _Moment_, doesn't it?" And once I realized it fit for the Series, I realized that there was no better placed to put it than after _Puppies, Penguins_, etc. What do you guys think? Secondly: the only thing that I see that Jurodan pointed out and that I couldn't make myself either find a way to fix it or change it completely so that it wasn't a problem has to deal with what Jurodan called, "The spatial problem". He pointed out that Raven is in a place in the Tower that probably doesn't really exist. I tried to find a schematic of The Tower for a couple of hours and really didn't find anything useful. I know that if I scoured the screen shots on Titansgo or something I might find the occasional picture of the Tower so that I could tell for sure, but Jurodan has the episodes on his hard drive for research purposes so if he says that the window wouldn't really be where I envisioned it, then I have faith that it wouldn't be. However, for the purposes of the story, as you can probably tell after having read it, the window HAD to be there and for some reason, I had envisioned it there as clear as if I had seen one there. I was probably thinking of her standing in that place where she meditates with Starfire in the Puppet Kind episode and where she has her chat with Robin at the end of The End, and I guess that is higher up than I envisioned it, but what the hell? I needed it to be there, so consider this one of my obviously off-canon and I am not intending to change it so please take it as interpretive privilege flaws. So, all you hard core fans out there that would notice that, it is my fault and does not imply any lacking notice on the part of my beta and forgive me for it, will ya?

Okay, enough about that...now, the important things: No-one seems to be interested in my Scraps journal. There are a few people and now that it's there, I think I like it because it helps me organize my thoughts in some ways, but if no one is going to be paying attention to it or watching out for it, then I'm really just going to turn it into my own personal thing and put up anything I want. Like, for instance, I just put up the newest Provosional Order for Moments (Which coincidentally, is going to change again, cause I don't think I counted with this bit...)

BUT, if people are interested in it and if people do watch out for when I update it, I'd like to know (I think only two or three people have me friended so far) because I had so much fun discussing my Calum story with Pandora, that I thought I'd open it up officially and post a journal just so people can post comments to that journal to ask me any question they would like to ask me regarding my writing! If you guys think you might be interested in that, then please let me know and I'll set it up. Also, I was thinking of putting up some false starts for Moments...snippets of scenes for one-shots I kept holding on to because I keep thinking that I might use it, but there are a few I'm pretty sure I won't be using anymore, so I could put those up and see what you guys think...if they're worthy of salvaging or if they should just be thrown away and forgotten or whatever.

Okay, I think that's it.

**Thanks:** Jurodan-Beta-Man did a GREAT job with this and he was such a sweetheart that I didn't have to wait very long for him to get it back to me! So, a great BIG whopping thanks goes out to him for this one!

_MyChem Sweetie:_ Well, that's a good question, but unfortunately, I don't have a good answer for it. I started it out planning to make them fairly independent one-shots, no promises as to having them be any sort of continuance or chronology to them, but it hasn't really turned out that way, has it? Mostly, I think what it's turned out as is that it's not necessarily one big story (all the chapters together, I mean) but more like all the chapters are taking place more or less in the same universe, so that if I say something happened in one chapter, I try my damndest to remember that I said that it happened and have them deal with the restriction placed on them by what I said happened and maybe sometimes they do refer to things that happened in previous chapters, but that's not a requirement. Mostly, I'm skipping out on the stuff in between these Moments, because the fighting of the villains, the typical stuff that everyone writes about is not what I wanted to focus on here. :scratches head: does that clear it up? So, yeah...the Christmas gift Pjs would be the Pjs Beast Boy gave her that got mentioned in Chapter 1. I don't have a specific age in mind for them, only that its _after_ everything that's happened in the series. And I don't see them like very much older than they are in the episodes, so :shrug: your guess is as good as mine...how old do they _seem_ to you? I think that this is all culminating to a declaration chapter or at the very least, an ultimate realization chapter where they both are in the same page as far as their feelings for each other are concerned and where they pretty much understand how the other feels about them...but whether or not there will be any physical shows of that, I honestly don't know. I _think_ there will be, but who knows? LOL I have more than 12 pairs of pjs and I just got two more for Christmas! I had forgotten I put that question up there...now I'll have to go back and answer that. I have the penguin ones and the scottish terrier ones and I don't remember what all I had Raven have...but a lot of them I do have myself. :grin:

_Nightingale:_ Thanks for answering that! I thought so too but I just wanted to make certain that it wasn't so ooc that it didn't throw anyone off.

_MsLessa:_ Yes, you're absolutely right. "a guy thing and Robin, even though he's a hero is still a teenage male underneath it all. Nobility only goes so far in the face of hormones and getting a reaction out a female." LOL. I thankfully got through the hurricanes alright! No major damage, thankfully. Thanks so much for worrying!

_Abbie:_ I talk to you often enough that i don't think there's anything here I need to reply to...is there:re-reads comment: "the haracters that Raven and Robin are now are NOT the characters they began this expedition as, nor should they be. This is the way writing goes; this IS character development." YES! Exactly. It's the way I've always felt about characters when I write them because I enjoy focusing so much on their development as characters versus on making my stories about external things and how they deal with them...so thank you for defending me, Abbie and for explaining it so eloquently! (Horray for Brainclone-ness!)

_AinoMiko:_ Thank you! I'm glad it wasn't too far off for you to be able to enjoy it!

_Chrystis:_ hey! There you are! I just saw your replies on dA but haven't gotten to responding to those! I agree about Robin being playful when he's not his usual obsessive/leader-ish self, and why would it have to be mutually exclusive from it being because Raven brings it out in him? _Maaaaybe..._he's only not his usual obsessive/leaderish self when he's around Raven?

_Spicy-Obsession:_ I'm really tickled that you liked the normal moment aspect to the series! It was one of the draws for me to write this, so thank you! And thanks for all the wonderful compliments, too!

_Pandora:_ Hey you! I hadn't realized that you commented here to the story! Hm...I didn't even know you were reading my Moments:BIG GRIN: Thanks for finding the typo...I am making a mental note (for all the good that does) of fixing it, but because it's a bit of a problem going back and re-uploading the file to ff I might just wait until I have the time and energy to just go over the whole story again to see if there's anything else to edit. I did mean for the call for typos and such, though, so thanks! And as you described it, I could so totally see Raven in one of those full body pjs complete with hoodie with bunny ears and footsies on it and everything. Course, there ain't no way Puck's writing her in one (he's afraid she'll hunt him down and kill him). But it's a really cute image. Maybe I'll do a quickie for the scraps as a deleted scene of sorts?

_Lord Malachite:_ Thank you. Your eloquence in expressing yourself has prompted me to respond, even though I can say nothing except thank you.

_Lunabasketcase:_ well, realizing why you feel that way is the first step and you aren't a flame hater or anything, so you're open minded at least, right? And that's good. I don't know how many chapters, because it changes all the time, but I've got the provisional order up on my scraps journal which doesn't have all of them and it changes all the time, but at least it's an idea, right?

_Sarii:_ Thank you! Y'know, I had much the same reaction when I re-read it myself

_The Omakeer:_ That's a good point and definitely something to consider. The only reason I might not do something about it is because I have the vague memory of her teasing him about his sleeping attire in the first chapter of Moments? The Superman Boxers?

_Kikikis:_ Kiss...hmmm...I think I'm going to have to do something about that soon since more and more people are asking me that same question. I don't know when or if they will kiss, to answer your question. But I have the feeling that if they do kiss, it'll be the end of the moments, since the purpose of the Moments was to explore how one falls in love and the kiss would naturally be the culmination of that love...right? Hmmm...

_LM22102:_ LOL. You made me laugh with your review! Thanks! And thanks especially because I get a little thrill everytime someone reviews with particular lines they liked or that struck them! SO, thanks for doing that:grinning:

_Lolopixie:_ Yes, LOL...it isn't often we get to see a defensive Raven! Thanks!

_Penguin Pop:_ Nope...no ass cheeks revealing ones for me (did I even write about one that revealed ass cheeks:resists going back to check: ) but yeah, I have the penguin ones and the puppy ones but no bunny ones. :grin:

_Raerob4ever:_ Less than that...but I've lost count much like Raven. (+ 2 more for Christmas! LOL)

_Raggedywings:_ Yes, you're right. I didn't consciously think of that, about having to show Robin having a physical attraction to her, but I agree with you 100.

_Miss A. LaRosa:_ Mindless banter is fun! I like writing it. And I like writing them having it because they're both generally intelligent people, so dialog is always fun to write when they get together!


	10. X: Sleepless

**A/N:** Apparently, you guys really liked the comedy in the last vignette. Wow. I'm floored. This came out from a spur of the moment image of Robin getting smacked in the face with...well...you'll see...just read on.

**Disclaimer:** It's still not mine...still not making any money off it. ((shrug))

_**It Only Takes A Moment  
**__**Part X: Sleepless  
**__**by Emania**_

"_I'm so tired but I can't sleep / Standin' on the edge of something much too deep..."  
- __Sarah McLachlan, I Will Remember_

"You really don't need…"

The rest of his sentence was cut off as something cold and wet plopped him right in the mouth and most of the lower portion of his face as well.

It held there for a moment while Robin blinked in surprise, not even attempting to finish his sentence. Slowly, as if the thing were trying to hang on but losing the fight, it slid off his face and started its downward descent onto the cement floor of the laundry room.

When, with a strange sort of plop, the offending article hit the ground, Robin finally managed to open his mouth again. "…light to see," he finished his sentence.

Raven's silhouette moved in the semi-darkness and the overhead light flickered on. When the light finally revealed the nuances of her face, it was to show Robin exactly how much she was trying to keep from laughing. Robin looked down at the ground by his feet and found the wet mass of a black garment lying innocently as if _it_ were the victim.

"You hit me with your bra?" he asked, raising a brow.

Robin's serious expression of surprise and offense was really too much to take. Raven was finally unable to hold back her laughter anymore. She chuckled and brought a hand up to her mouth to stifle it. "Serves you right for sneaking up on me," she finally managed, shaking her head and attempting bravely to compose herself.

"But a _bra_?" he insisted.

She used her magic to levitate it back to her and tried to curl as much of it in her hand as possible in some vain and tardy attempt to hide it from view. "It was an instinctual reaction…and it happened to be what I had in my hand at the time, so…" she trailed off and stuffed the offending bra back in with the dirty laundry. She'd have to re-wash it now.

"Which brings me to the point…" he started as he wiped the last remnants of lavender scented water from his face, "why are you doing laundry at 3 in the morning?" He sought out something to dry his hands on, but as an afterthought, brought them to his face and inhaled. 'Yep,' he decided. 'Lavender.' He wiped his hands on his pants and shook his head, 'I wonder what detergent she uses?' he thought absently.

"Because I couldn't sleep and it had to be done." He was obviously mulling over her logical if incomplete answer and she took the time to raise her own brow. "Why are _you_ up and in the laundry room at 3 in the morning?" She made it a point of noticing how he was not carrying any laundry baskets. "And with no laundry to do?"

"I couldn't sleep either," he offered. He tried to ignore her knowing look that clearly told him she wasn't buying it, but he knew it was pointless. He sighed and sat up on one of the unused washers. "Okay, fine, so I wasn't even trying to sleep," he admitted sheepishly. "I was obsessing over tonight's mission..."

"You?" she asked, shaking out a wet, black, pillowcase before tossing it into the dryer. "Obsessing? No," she offered him a bland, albeit obviously sarcastic look.

Robin narrowed his eyes at the obvious jab and in answer, she leaned over the washing machine to reach for another article of clothing, "There were no loose ends in our last mission, Robin," she said while still bent over, her voice echoing eerily in the metal machinery, "It was just Doctor Light being his deranged self again..." she continued as she straightened and shook out another pillow case before glancing at him, "No conspiracy and no evil plots...just lunacy." She shook her head as she reached for another wet pillowcase, "And pathetic lunacy at that," she added, half under her breath.

Robin ran a hand through his hair, mussing it even more than it already was and nodded tiredly, "Yeah, I know...but lately, I just can't let things go...I can't help thinking that maybe this ridiculous heist is a cover up for something else or a smaller portion of something..._more_."

"Well," she mused aloud, tossing a few black socks into the dryer. "Being a little paranoid is good...it keeps you sharp and focused."

He grinned sheepishly, "But being a lot paranoid is..."

"Anal retentive," she finished easily as she went back into the washer to dig for more clothes. "And if you keep losing sleep about it, you'll be no good to us."

Robin stopped and stared at her hard enough so that she paused mid motion to glance up at him. "Isn't that like the pot calling the kettle black?"

She looked as if she wanted to argue, but decided against it and closed her mouth with a small smile instead. She went back to shoving small bunches of socks and other smallish apparel into the dryer and it suddenly hit him that it was all black.

"Speaking of which..." he motioned to the dryer, "don't you have any clothes that aren't black?"

She glanced at the dryer and the wet clothes in her hands as if she hadn't even really noticed what she was putting into the dryer. "This is my black load..." she told him, as if it should be obvious. When understanding didn't dawn in his expression, she frowned, "Don't you separate your clothes when you do laundry? You know, the whites with the whites, the delicates with the delicates, the black with the black and so on?"

Robin shook his head, "That would take too long."

She shook her head, closing the dryer's lid and switching it on. "Better than having clothes that should be white be pink instead or clothes that should be black be gray." She glanced at him as she started the washer filling with water.

It did occur to him how banal it was to be talking about the proper way of washing clothes at three in the morning, with Raven of all people, but he went with it anyway. "_Now_ whose being anal retentive?" he asked chidingly.

She shrugged, "Excuse me for wanting my clothes to retain their original colors," she said unapologetically. As if in afterthought, she glanced at him sideways, "I'd think since you have such..._distinct_...colors to take care of, you'd know how to wash them properly."

It took him a moment to grasp her subtlety. "Are you insulting my choice in uniform?" he asked, disbelievingly. "Are you really dissing my colors?"

She tried to hide her smile by pouring the detergent into the water and starting to load the washer, "Did you really just say '_dissing'_?" she countered.

"Because I distinctly remember," he continued, ignoring her question as he pushed himself off the dryer in an attempt to stand all the more imposingly, even though he feared it was lost on Raven, "a time when you rather enjoyed wearing these selfsame colors," he reminded her meaningfully, "nay," he continued, dramatically raising a finger, "this selfsame outfit!" he motioned to his clothes.

Her face was still lowered, intently watching her hands as she loaded the clothes into the water so he couldn't tell if she was blushing or smiling, but he knew it had to be some kind of reaction that she was trying to hide from him. "There's just one difference between you wearing those colors, Robin and me wearing them," she said, finally looking up at him as she lowered the lid of the washer.

"Yeah?" he asked, smirking at her, "What's that?"

"They make _you_ look like a traffic light," she told him unapologetically. She raised a hand to stop him from his automatic cry of foul, "While I..."she leaned one hip against the washer and crossed her arms over her chest, "Well, _I_ make them look good."

Robin's eyebrows rose in surprise, but his lips curved into a smile. "I don't think anyone would argue that point," he conceded.

The teasing look turned into one of almost comical suspicion, "Alright," she said, determined, "Who are you and what have you done with Robin?" she asked pointedly.

He laughed, "What?" he asked defensively, "Can't a guy offer a girl a compliment?"

"Compliments are strange but welcome," she allowed dismissively, "But for _our_ _Robin_ to concede defeat in an argument so easily...that's just plain suspicious," she answered.

That she had referred to him as theirs was not lost on him, but he wasn't quite sure how he should feel about such a casual reference. So, instead he went with her teasing, "So, I'm changing," he told her dramatically, "Growing, even."

"Maybe," and although her words were as if she were agreeing with him, her expression clearly informed him she wasn't buying it for a moment.

Robin found it incredibly amusing and shrugged, "I guess it wouldn't be _you_ if you weren't suspicious."

Raven had turned back to her laundry but at his comment, she turned with a somewhat more vocal, "Ha!" than she perhaps had intended. "_Now_ who's the pot and who's the kettle?"

Robin's laughter increased, "I don't think it matters either way, does it?" He shrugged, the laughter still in his voice, "We're both the same."

She smiled...slowly, as if unsure of whether or not she should. "Yes," she confirmed, turning back to the pile of clothes, "I suppose we are _somewhat_ alike."

"Somewhat...yeah, okay," he said skeptically, "But who are the only two idiots who can never sleep and always find something to do in the wee hours when they _should_ rightfully be sleeping?"

She turned back to him with a t-shirt in her hands, mid-fold, "Hey, I have a valid reason."

"You couldn't do laundry at a regular hour? Like while there's still daylight?"

She shook her head and folded the t-shirt in short, succinct movements, putting it aside on the neat pile she had made of folded clothes, "No, actually...someone is always using the machines then."

"This isn't an apartment complex, Raven, I'm sure there's some chance..."

"I rather not have to hunt for a time to do my laundry, thank you very much," she said primly, "I'd rather just do it late at night."

"That's a weak excuse," he countered frankly.

She glanced at him over her shoulder and shrugged, "Well...at least I have one."

"If that's the level of excuse we need, I'm sure my 'working on paperwork' excuse would be valid, too," he countered.

She gave him a look that clearly said she wouldn't necessarily agree with that but wouldn't argue it. He took the moment of silence to look over the piles of clothes: wet, dry, folded, dirty...he could tell just what she intended to do with them even if she hadn't told him. Some of the clothes he had seen, some of them he hadn't and he wondered when she wore them. He walked to stand next to her and spy on what type of clothes she was folding. A mound of pajama bottoms waited before her.

"So, why can't you sleep?" he asked casually as he watched her fold rhythmically.

She shrugged. "I was too wired to sleep," she answered.

"After a _routine_ bust like Dr. Light?" he teased.

"Touché," she conceded.

"And you're really not going to say anything else?" he prompted.

"Not if you aren't," she countered.

"I thought we had been through _that_ already?" he asked, half-jokingly, "Just me being paranoid and anal-retentive, remember?"

She shook her head, "But _why_ are you being paranoid?" she asked, without looking at him, "You said that _lately_ you were finding it harder to let go..." she glanced up at him. "Why lately?"

He looked down and found a spot of lint to play with. "I don't know why...It's just like I feel the stakes are getting higher and higher the more we fight," he admitted, surprising even himself at admitting so much so easily. When had it become so easy to share his burdens with her, he wondered? Since when could he share his fears and not even think twice about it?

She nodded and he caught it out of the corner of his eye, "I sometimes feel the same way," she admitted, returning to her rhythmic folding. "I keep wondering when our luck's going to run out." She paused in her folding as if something had just occurred to her and she sighed and shook her head, "When _my_ luck is going to run out," she corrected, folding a pair of pants into a smaller size that might normally be necessary.

He had enough sense to wait for the surprise that such a frank admission from Raven should bring but something about the quiet of the night, with only the whirr-clank of the machines around them made it seem right to be having such a discussion and the surprise never came and he never missed it.

"No," he told her, unconsciously helping her by placing the folded piles of clothes into the empty, waiting laundry basket so she could have more room to continue folding, "You were right the first time...I feel the same thing, sometimes, like we've been so close to losing so many times that the law of averages just _has_ to work against us at some point."

She nodded silently.

"So, what do you do?" he asked after a while.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"What do you about the doubt and the paranoid-negative-defeatist attitude when it comes over you?" he asked with a bit of a grin.

She seemed to think about it for a few moments, then, apparently unable to come up with any other answer, she shrugged and lifted the pair of flannel pants she was holding up between them, "I do laundry at 3 in the morning," she answered simply.

He raised his eyebrows, but after he had thought about it, found himself chuckling, "Yeah, okay," he nodded, moving yet another pile of clothes for her, letting his hands linger over the warmth of the just-out-of-the-dryer fabric. "More like 4 in the morning now, though."

Her lips curved in a half-smile and she nodded, whatever she was going to say interrupted by the loud buzzer that signaled the dryer had finished it's job. "Excuse me," she motioned for him to step aside so she could walk the few steps to the dryer and it wasn't until then that he realized how close he had been standing to her.

She opened the dryer and had started to take clothes out but stopped, "There's something else," she said, still crouched on her haunches, her hands on the rim of the dryer.

"Hm?" he prompted. He had been considering making himself useful and helping her fold her laundry, but he wasn't quite sure what she would think about him folding her sleepwear. "About what?"

"To get over the doubt," she explained.

"Oh?"

She looked down at her hands for a moment before turning her upper body to look at him, "I watch you all train," she admitted. "And I realize that luck isn't all there is, it's about preparation and training and teamwork..." She looked down and he thought she wouldn't say anymore, but she looked up again and he could see the mischief in her eyes even if it was almost hidden behind the mask of control she always wore, "And I remember that I'm part of a team now and that even if _my_ luck were to run out, all of our luck can't run out at the same time..." she smiled for him...not the full-fledged smile that any of the others would offer, but for Raven, it was as bright as the sun, "...the law of averages wouldn't work that way...would it?" She turned back to the dryer and pulled out a jumble of clothes, placing them on top of the machine before digging in for more, "That's what I do, anyway..." she said casually.

And maybe, he thought, that was why it was so easy to admit his fears to her? Maybe because she didn't try to issue empty promises about how everything would work out and didn't even really try just to make him feel better, but somehow managed to do just that anyway by just being honest with him.

"Thanks, Raven," he told her, turning back to the pile of clothes she had been folding. "I think I'll try that..."

By the time Raven turned around, her arms loaded with the clothes she had just removed from the drier it was to find that Robin had folded nearly all of the clothes she had left in the 'to fold' pile.

Raven spilled the clothes from her arms onto the table between them and stared at him for a moment, her arms folded over her chest, "Well," she told him, slightly amused, "I didn't say you could take _my_ method of coping, did I?"

Robin laughed, but continued folding...even if he didn't even dare a glance at the 'intimates' pile.

He'd let her do those herself.

_xxxxxxxx_

**Thanks:** (1) As always, a whole horde of thanks to **Jurodan **: The Beta-Man who took time out of his very jam packed schedule to give this _Moment _the once over. AND, a super special thanks to the wonderful authoress **Guardian Kysra** who was fantastic enough to serve as "plot-beta" for me.  
(2) I have been replying to all the reviews and placing those responses on my 'emsscraps' journal so that I don't get kicked off or suspended from this account. So, go there to find the responses. The address is the http colon slash slash and then this emsscraps . livejournal . com / (without the spaces) You'll have to look at the titles of the journals for the one that says _"Review Responses for +It Only Takes A Moment: First Snow+"  
_And PLEASE, please comment on there, just a quick little, "I read this!" or "I found this!" so that I know that you guys found it, okay?

**SPECIAL A/N**: The last part of this _Moment_ went through like three different directions. I wrote out until a certain scene and then stopped when I realized I didn't like where it was going and went back to a certain part in what I had and started over like three times. SO...I'm going to post up the "Alternate Scenes" for this _Moment_ up on my emsscraps journal, too. So, you go to the same address as above and look for the journal titled _"Alternate Scenes for +It Only Takes A Moment: Sleepless+"_ If you guys read them and enjoy it, then let me know, k?


	11. XI: Looking at You

**Dedication:** This chapter is dedicated to _**MsLessa**_ because it was a review of hers that made me think of doing a vignette like this one. So, thank you, Lessa! (further explanation can be found at the end of the vignette.)

**A/N:** Everything in _italics_ is a direct quote from the movie. (You'll see which movie later, don't want to ruin it). Also, this one is considerably longer than the last few. Hope you guys enjoy it!

**Thanks:** A great big whoop of thanks to **_GuardianKysra_** who was kind enough to play plot beta again for this bit. (And who also drew me a picture for _Trial and Error. _You can find the link to the picture through my emsscraps journal, tooAnd of course, to **_Jurodan_**, who took time out of his hectic life to give this one a looksie to find grammatical, structural, and overall discrepancies between what I want to say and what actually gets put on paper. (or screen, as the case may be). The review responses to _Sleepless_ is going up along with this on my emsscraps journal. And check out my forums through this fanfiction (dot) net account for my challenge. (Yes, I've jumped on the bandwagon) So far, everyone's ignored my happy challenge-issuing arse, but you know, it's up there if anyone's interested.

_**It Only Takes A Moment  
**__**Part XI: Looking At You  
**__**by Em**_

"_Here's looking at you, kid."  
__-_ Humphrey Bogart (as Rick Blaine), _Casablanca_

"Okay," Raven proclaimed as she gracefully dismounted the bike and removed the helmet, unperturbed by her hair as it swished into place around her face. She handed the helmet to him as he dismounted and looked around her. "Would you care to tell me _now_ why we're at the park?"

Robin smiled at her and she had a moment of startling shock as his clear blue eyes stared back at her. She was so used to seeing him with the mask on that even though she _knew_ he was maskless because he had appeared that way in the garage before they left and even though they had already had the discussion of how only without the mask was he able to attain any level of anonymity in these public gatherings, she was still surprised to the point of momentary speechlessness at the sight. If he guessed where her thoughts had led her or why she had taken on the look she always took on whenever she was defragmenting a particularly complex puzzle, he didn't let on.

Instead, he put away both helmets and removed a bundle in the storage compartment with a flourish, "I told you it was a fun place we were going to," he said in answer to her question.

His voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she found herself staring at the bundle. She couldn't help but wonder just what it was and just what it might have to do with any of what was going on. The bundle for its part, was a nondescript, dark blue cloth and although it obviously held something in its depths, she couldn't, for the life of her, tell what it might be.

"That's still to be determined," she said, hiding her curiosity and surprise behind a flawless deadpan, "Wonder Boy," she finished purposefully flipping his nickname. (She had learned that it irked him much more when his nickname, which he already didn't like, was warped in some way than it did to just call him by his nickname and had since then favored the alternate method)

"You'll see…" he said, grinning in a way that showed how awfully proud of himself he already was.

Raven saw that smile and determined not to give him the satisfaction of showing surprise or pleasure at whatever he was leading her toward. She had known, from the moment he was so insistent, that it was probably going to be something that she would enjoy. Robin knew her too well to be this happy and excited about showing or sharing something with her that she wouldn't enjoy.

And even though it was the surprise itself that she didn't like and that made her rather cranky and put out, it was his cockiness that made her resolve to not give him the satisfaction. 'That he probably deserved,' she added silently as he motioned for her to follow him off the parking lot and onto the green, green grass of the park.

It suddenly occurred to her as she walked that the light of day was fading.

What were they doing walking _into_ the park just before nightfall anyway?

"You know I don't like surprises, don't you?" she asked flatly.

"That's cause you haven't had the right one just yet," he countered, turning back to look at her in the fading light. "Now, come on, it's just over that hill and we've gotta get a good spot!"

When she didn't seem about to hurry, he swung the bundle into his right hand and reached back to take her hand with his left, tugging her into a fast walk.

She was so surprised at the contact, that she didn't pull away or make any sort of comment about the strangeness of the touch and instead, found herself hastening her pace to keep up, letting him practically pull her up the 3 foot hill obscuring the horizon just beyond it. So surprised, in fact, that she didn't realize that they weren't the only people walking toward that horizon or that she was being led across ground where there were already groups of people lounging on blankets on the grass and talking animatedly.

And to be completely fair, it wasn't just the surprise of suddenly feeling the warmth of Robin's hand clutching hers that had her in such a state of shock (although it had been a part…maybe even a big part…) but the only thing of the scene sprawling out before her the closer they came that she noticed was the larger than average movie screen highlighted by the setting sun dominating the horizon.

When they finally stopped and Robin released her hand, she turned to him, surprised, despite her vow to do no such thing. "Is that a…?" she started, motioning vaguely to the screen.

"A movie screen, yes," he finished for her, smiling for a moment before bending back to unfurl his bundle.

Raven turned back to the screen and slowly the surprise started to wear away (After all, if Raven was ever surprised, she recovered quickly) and she started to notice things she had walked blithely by in their rush to find a 'good' spot. Among the things she noticed was how they were surrounded by groups of people all laying on blankets with picnic baskets around them. She also noticed how there were more people coming and how everyone gave everyone else at least some room on either side. Finally, she noticed how the nondescript blue material was a blanket and how Robin was laying it down on the grass, placing a smallish brown tightly woven picnic basket on a corner of it. (A _picnic basket_? How did he get a picnic basket inside a blanket?)

She was, to say the least, very surprised. About all of it. But most of all, she was wondering just what in the seven hells she was doing there?

She had a moment of pure, unadulterated panic. The kind of panic that set upon her only when she found herself in a position and she didn't know how she got there or how to get out or even what to do about it. Sure, as he had told her back at the Tower in convincing her to come along in the first place: if she didn't like it, she could always fly away. But that didn't seem like an option, for one reason or another. Anyway, Raven rationalized, nothing was _annoying _as of yet and nothing was bothering her...except for that unexpected panic. Even though Raven was not the kind of person to want to hide from her troubles, at that moment, she wished she knew how to hide her head in the ground so that she wouldn't even have to think about how to react.

She wanted very much to flee, but some other emotion in her wouldn't let her and she didn't seem to have the drive to figure out which emotion it was.

Taking deep breaths, Raven calmed herself from the irrational panic and tried to think logically: this was obviously something he wanted to do and having no one else to do it with, decided to share it with her. But it was strange, she had to admit, that her first instinct had been to feel such overwhelming panic. Why had she felt that way? After all, it was obvious now that they were here to watch a movie and hadn't she seen a dozen movies with him before? Hell, she had seen a movie with him dressed in a costume

for Azar's sake. It had to be, she decided, the surprise of it all that had caught her off guard.

She really hated surprises.

"Raven?" Robin's voice caught her attention and she turned her eyes to him and noticed he was waiting.

"Yes?"

"Are you alright?" he asked, smiling a little. "You look as if you've seen a ghost or something."

She frowned, "I do _not_," she said stoutly.

He raised his eyebrows at her as if to say, 'really?' and she took offense to that too.

Her first instinct was to start an argument. She could do it, of course, or she could at the very least be so prickly that it would seem like she was arguing with him. He, then, would be confused and probably a little irritated and at least then she wouldn't be the only one. But there was something about his expression that didn't let her start the argument the way she normally would. (Maybe it was being able to see his eyes and how there was such an open quality to them when he looked at her)

So instead, she ducked her head to look at what he had laid out on the blanket and pushed her stray strand of hair behind her ear in an unconsciously nervous gesture. "I never look surprised when I see a ghost," she answered honestly.

Robin for his part, had been focusing on what Raven was saying without speaking and had a pretty good idea that she was surprised even before she admitted to it. But that she had admitted to it brought an even wider smile to his lips. "Well, then, shall we have a seat, milady?" he asked, motioning to the blanket with a gracious bow.

She looked around them at all the people who were settling nearby and could feel the pleasant anticipation in the air. Robin was still looking at her. "You mean on the ground?" she asked before she could help it.

He looked supremely amused, "You could float just above it if you want to, but I think it might call some attention to us and I for one want to go incognito if you don't mind."

It wasn't sitting on the ground that Raven was weary about. Rather, it was how to sit on the ground and still maintain her cool exterior. No one could ever sit on the ground and still appear cool and collected. People could sit on the ground and look casual, laid back, relaxed, but these were all looks that Raven didn't do.

"Think of it this way," Robin's voice broke into her thoughts as if he had been privy to them, "You're not Raven here tonight, are you?" He motioned to her innocuous, slightly worn in and comfortable looking blue jeans and camouflage green t-shirt with the _M.A.S.H _logo and cross on it that she was wearing. His eyes twinkled and that she could see it reminded her of the strangeness of looking at his eyes and that too took her by surprise for a moment, "You're incognito."

Raven had one more moment of thought before she lowered herself onto the soft blanket on her knees, much like Japanese people do, even though she knew this wouldn't be a comfortable position to maintain for the whole time. She looked up at him and extended her arms as if to say, 'happy?'.

In response, he grinned as if saying, 'Very', fell unceremoniously onto his own blue jean clad knees and began to dig through the picnic basket in earnest.

Raven watched as he pulled out a thermos, those plastic Tupperware like containers of varying sizes, two glasses, napkins, and a couple of throw pillows and figured the picnic basket (which she didn't even know they had in the Tower) must have been made by the same person that made Robin's utility belt and Mary Poppins' Carpet Bag.

"I get it," she spoke, causing him to glance at her as he unpacked, "The basket's made with that warp technology that allows you to have an infinite amount of space in an otherwise finite shape," she said monotonously.

Robin grinned and shook his head, "No," he shrugged, "It's all in the packing," he explained. "I'm an excellent packer..."

She frowned in her not really upset kind of frown, "Of course you are," she allowed.

He shrugged and went back to removing things from the basket. She, meanwhile, investigated the Tupperware and noticed various candies, peanuts and potato chips in most of them and what she could only guess were sandwiches in the larger one. She took the cup he offered her and met his eyes again, "So, you wanna tell me what we're watching before or after the toast?"

He grinned cheekily and poured a dark cream colored, warm substance into her cup. "Can't you guess?"

"With the trillion of movie titles that are possible, I don't think I can," she said as she brought the cup up to her lips to smell it daintily. She resisted the smile that wanted to form on her lips as she recognized the sweet smell of a latte. By this time, Robin had poured some into his own cup and brought it to clink against hers, taking a healthy gulp of it after.

She didn't remember ever having one of his lattes, but she thought the least she could do was to taste it, so she brought it up to her lips and took a careful sip and was surprised to realize that it was actually pretty good.

When she met his eyes again, he was looking, if at all possible, even more pleased with himself. "That's right, I thought of everything."

She just barely stopped herself from scoffing, "You forgot the popcorn," she pointed out.

He grinned, "Not really..." he motioned off to the side where there was a portable cart poised near to a tree, popping a fresh batch of popcorn.

"Okay..." Raven said a bit disbelievingly. She turned to him, "How long have you been planning this?" she asked.

He shrugged and took another swallow of his coffee, "Last week?" he said, shrugging again, "I read about it in the paper and I thought it would be fun...especially considering what movie was playing."

"And you didn't tell any of us until tonight?" she asked, "No wonder everyone had other stuff to do and the only person you could get to come with you was me."

He had the decency to look embarrassed and actually busied himself with pouring some more coffee.

"Wait," she stopped herself from taking another sip and looked from the movie screen back to him, "What movie _is_ playing?"

He took the opportunity to fill up her cup again and grinned, "You'll see."

Raven looked back at her cup and was about to say something when Robin stood up fluidly and whatever she was going to say was gone, "Where are you going?" she asked instead.

"Popcorn," he told her, pointing to the cart, "We better get it before the movie starts."

"With all this food, you still want popcorn?" she asked, motioning the tupperware and everything else.

"You wanted popcorn, didn't you?" he asked and before she could answer, he was gone toward the popcorn vendor.

Raven watched him for a moment, and for just a moment, it was as if she were looking at someone else, not at the Robin she knew at all. He was dressed in civilian clothing too, and although she had found his white t-shirt with red rimmed collar and short sleeves amusing (mostly because of the yellow and red "Speed Racer" logo on it and because of how well it fit that he would be a fan of that old show) now, at a distance, it was like watching a stranger. The natural grace she always associated with Robin was there, in the way he walked and the way he held himself even when he was still, but even his stance was different than it was when he wore his uniform. In casual clothes, he was so much more laid back. In the uniform, he would've stood in line with his feet shoulder width apart, his hands at his side within easy reach of weapon and a certain tension would be in each of his muscles, like a tiger ready to pounce. Here, he was...different. His feet were together, his arms were crossed at his chest and there wasn't that tension in his body, or even in his face.

She frowned. It was like looking at someone that wasn't Robin and she knew she was looking at Richard. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. She knew Robin. Richard...she wasn't sure what to do with him. She was about to frown even harder when the little girl in line before him turned and spoke to him and she watched him smile at her and speak to her and just like that, she recognized him again. The differences she was seeing were only in his portrayed mannerisms. The core of him was the same. His stance, his preparation for battle, all that was things he did, not how he acted toward her or any of the others. That smile, that casual way of addressing the little girl, she recognized those...they were all part of the Robin she knew too. But instead of feeling more comfortable at the realization of this, she felt even more..._strange_.

She couldn't help but wonder what the hell was going on. The last thing she would have thought she'd be doing that night (or any night for that matter) would be dressed in civies watching a movie sprawled on a picnic blanket in the park...with Robin of all people. Maskless Robin, no less.

Watching a movie with her friend wasn't so strange when she thought about it, and if the rest of their friends had come along, she knew she wouldn't have thought twice about the strangeness of it. (Oh, she still would've wondered at how they convinced her to come in the first place and she probably would've wondered at the strangeness of where Robin and how he got everything to fit in the picnic basket and the picnic basket to fit in the storage compartment of his R-Cycle) But she had to admit that part of the strangeness she felt was the fact that she was with _him_.

Maybe Robin was right? Maybe she should just think of it as if she weren't herself here: as if she weren't Raven, just a girl out with her friend watching a movie.

She could do that.

A girl out with a _guy_ friend watching a movie.

'Isn't that technically the definition of date?' a part of her wondered, but she ignored the question. Just because she was a girl and he was a guy didn't mean any outing they went on had to be a date.

She looked away from where Robin was about to step up and order the popcorn to take another look at the groups of people that had still been settling around them. They had gotten a pretty good spot, she had to admit, but there was so many people nonetheless. And all sorts, too, from the group of old women sitting in lawn chairs in a loose circle gabbing away to her right to the young mother opening up Tupperware of her own while the rowdy children played in her vicinity to her left. And of course, there were the lovers: the groups of closely sitting pairs, whispering intimately to each other and smiling like they were intoxicated. It was the kind of gaze she had only really ever seen on the faces of actors on the screen. As soon as she thought it, she realized how she had never really been in this kind of situation before. She had sat at the park before, sure, but then she had been reading or meditating or doing something and the closest to lovers acting as such that she ever got was to the few couples who walked by her holding hands.

With this new realization, Raven allowed her curiosity to guide her eyes and peered more intently (albeit unobtrusively) at the scattered groups of obvious couples. What made it so obvious that they were couples, she wondered? She was too far away from them and there were far too many people around her for her to think that it was her empathy that clued her in on their romantic status. But nonetheless, she could tell just by the way they were acting around each other whether they were old lovers, new lovers, bored lovers, or even denied lovers.

'Love is a funny thing, isn't it?' she wondered academically. It's something like air: invisible, imperceivable, in many ways indescribable, and yet obvious when it's lacking or present.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Raven started in realization that Robin had not only returned with the popcorn (and sodas as well) but had settled down next to her. She flushed and hid her face even though he probably couldn't tell in the deepening twilight. "They're not worth that much," she answered, taking the frigid coke bottle he was handing to her.

"Fine," he laughed, sitting down close enough to her that he could hold out the popcorn and not have to reach, "You can owe me the change."

"Really, I was just people watching," she told him, reaching into the bag.

He seemed ready to continue questioning her, but the few lights surrounding the park dimmed and the screen came to life, immediately hushing the whole group of them who shifted to look at it.

It didn't take long for her to figure out what movie was playing. She didn't get it as soon as the black and white Warner Brother's sign came on the screen, but pretty soon after, when the map of Africa was superimposed by the names of Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Reid. She inhaled sharply in surprised recognition. "Casablanca..." she whispered just as the name of the movie was displayed across the large screen and the music swelled.

As the rest of the credits appeared over the map, she turned to look at him. Robin had, of course, been watching her for her reaction and she had not disappointed him.

"Surprise!" he whispered, opening his eyes wide and grinning, waiting for her to say something.

"I'll say..." she whispered.

"Well, you remember how you told me I should watch it?"(1) he whispered, leaning toward her to not disturb their neighbors.

Raven avoided looking at him since she just knew that would put their faces within too close proximity. Already she could feel his breath on her cheek. "Vaguely," she admitted.

"During the whole Rocky Horror discussion, remember?" he insisted.

"Yes, I remember using _Casablanca_ as an example of a classic movie," she told him, knowing that until she admitted that she remembered, he wouldn't stop and they were already by the part where the globe was turning in a sea of clouds.

"Well, like I said, I was reading the paper the other day and I came across an add for this," he motioned to the screen before them, "So I thought if I were to see the movie, this would seem like a great way to do it."

"Okay," she said as the opening prologue finished. She turned to look at him and only _just_ managed to not have to inhale sharply at how very close he was and how very blue his eyes looked even though the park was now almost completely cast in darkness except for the flickering of the celluloid in front of them. Her lips turned just a little at the corners and her eyes softened, just enough to let him know she was smiling. "Thank you for bringing me along," she whispered, "Now, watch the movie or you won't understand what's going on."

"Okay," he echoed her, smiling slowly and turning to watch the screen just in time to see the roundup of suspects and the pickpocket take the couple's wallet.

"_...vultures! Vultures everywhere!"_ the pickpocket warned, slithering away.

_xxxxx_

He got wrapped up in the movie, he really did, but he couldn't help but notice and wonder at the way Raven reacted to a movie she had _already_ seen. He had never seen her emotions so close to the surface before, never seen her so _involved_ when it wasn't a life or death situation they themselves faced. And he certainly couldn't help but notice the way her lips moved, just slightly, along with some of the dialog in the movie:

"_You despise me, don't you?"_ the weaselly man, Ugarte, asked in the actor's signature manner.

"_If I gave you any thought, I probably would,"_ Rick announced, his deadpan accentuated by Bogart's signature drawl and Raven's own lips moving along with his words.

And in this manner, Robin watched, half his attention on the movie itself and the other half on Raven and what scenes and lines she was drawn enough into that she mouthed them along with Bogart.

He knew that she was allowing him to see her do this, for no matter how involved in the movie she had become, she hadn't forgotten he was alongside her. (He made sure of that by his occasional offering of candies or popcorn which she was aware enough to take or refuse.) But she _had_ become more comfortable in their area by increments, first leaning back off her legs, then tucking her legs under her, and leaning just that much closer toward where he was leaning toward her. And finally, he was pleased to note, she was comfortable enough to mouth along with the movie her favorite lines.

It was something exceedingly un-Raven-like to do, but he cataloged each of the lines she mouthed regardless and stored them away for later dissemination. After all, it wasn't every day he got to find out what lines in any movie Raven found particularly quotable.

_xxxxx_

"_Play it once, Sam, for old time's sake,"_ Ilsa asked, nostalgia riding her serene expression.

Raven threw Robin a knowing glance, which he pointedly ignored as Sam hedged about playing the song. (2)

"_Play it, Sam. Play, "As Time Goes By."_

Raven turned back to the screen just as Sam began to play and sing and Robin took the opportunity to glance at her again, wondering if she was humming the song under her breath or not.

_xxxxx_

Robin had been watching her almost as much as he had been watching the movie, she knew that, but once she realized he had caught her mouthing the words to some of her favorite lines, she figured the damage was done and why should she stop if she wanted to? It was like reading her favorite parts of books aloud, to see how they sounded, only with movies, it was something akin to mouthing the words and seeing how they felt.

So, when another of her favorite parts came up, she found it very easy to pretend she hadn't noticed Robin noticing her and mouthed the lines just the same...both characters':

"_Let's see, the last time we met-"_ Ilsa started, trying for casualness but not quite making it.

"_--It was "La Belle Aurore,"_ Rick offered stoically. Raven could understand the way he had to fight to keep the hurt from showing in his voice, the bitterness.

"_How nice," _Ilsa said, slightly more uncomfortable, _"You remembered."_ The rest of the lines went by un-mouthed by Raven until Rick spoke one of her favorite lines in the whole movie, if not for the lyricism of the lines themselves, then for the underlying emotion and meaning in the way they were delivered.

"_I remember every detail," _Rick admitted, his eyes full of something he can't name or bring himself to show. The other people sitting at the table had obviously been forgotten and only Ilsa existed for him in that moment, _"The Germans wore gray, you wore blue."_ Raven mouthed this line along with Rick and she could feel the charge in them, the emotions prickling against her skin.

It was such an emotionally charged scene and yet emotionally repressed at the same time.

"I think I can see why you like this movie," Robin whispered very near to her.

_xxxxxx_

Raven would've probably mouthed the famous lines about gin joints when Rick is sitting at the table, drinking away the pain, but she was too drawn into the reaction Rick's obvious pain had brought to Robin's expression.

He looked moved.

"_Who are you really? And what were you before? What did you do and what did you think, huh?"_ Rick asks Ilsa, but Raven is suddenly drawn into Robin's eyes when he turned to stare at her. In the background, Ilsa is reminding Rick of the superficiality of their relationship, but Raven is busy trying to decipher the language of Robin's expression.

Realizing she can't (and maybe doesn't necessarily want to), she smirked a little as she recognized what part of the movie was up, "_Here's looking at you, kid,"_ she said along with Rick, raising her coke between them before turning back to watch the movie, drinking as she did.

_xxxxxx_

"Raven."

"What?" she whispered back, never letting her eyes leave the screen, involved even in the fairly inconsequential scene where Rick goes to the Blue Parrot to give the police time to search his club.

"Raven," he insisted.

Raven turned absently to face him, "What?" she asked again, her eyes finding his in the darkness.

"I have a confession to make," he admitted earnestly.

The movie went on, unheeded as background while Raven took in this bit of information. He didn't look all too guilty, so it couldn't be something too terrible, she decided. She gave him her full attention, "Go on," she urged.

"_You're a fat hypocrite,"_ Rick was saying with no heat or disrespect in his voice, _"You don't feel any sorrier for Ugarte than I do."_

"_Of course not,"_ Ferrari admitted candidly.

Raven didn't need to see it to know what was going on, but she wasn't even really listening, she was too preoccupied with what Robin was thinking about and with what he might have to confess.

"I never told the others about the movie," he whispered, eyes level and open and she knew instinctively he wasn't kidding. "I never intended to."

"What?" she asked, wholly confused, "Why not?"

He shrugged, and looked a little uncomfortable, as if he hadn't anticipated her question or hadn't thought the consequences of his confession all the way through, "I didn't think they'd care about it."

Raven wasn't entirely convinced, but she had no reason to doubt his explanation other than the fact that if it were such a simple reason, he wouldn't have looked as if he were confessing to a much larger sin that he wasn't certain how she would react to. Deciding that she wanted to see the movie more than press him on the issue, she nodded, letting the suspicion dissolve from her features, "Okay," she answered as she brought a few kernels of salty popcorn to her mouth, turning back to the screen as she bit down and chewed.

She could feel his surprise at her acceptance, and bit back a smile, feeling for the first time that whole night as if she had finally, _finally_, gotten one up over the Boy Wonder. He had obviously expected (maybe even _wanted_)her to react differently to his declaration and she was pleased to see him confused by the reaction she did give him.

She was very careful _not_ to consider how he wanted her to react and especially careful not to even think about not considering why.

But it snuck up on her just the same.

Somehow between Ilsa and Laszlo talking to Ferrari at the Blue Parrot and when Rick rigged the roulette wheel so the young man would win and the wife wouldn't have to sell herself to Renault for exit visas, the errant thought invaded her consciousness and wouldn't leave her alone. It nagged at her, running around, spoiling her enjoyment of the movie, all the way through to the emotionally charged singing of the Marseilles to drown out the Germans' singing (a part that was normally one of Raven's favorites for the unspoken quality of emotion all around). But she couldn't help but think that if only to make fun of the movie and eat popcorn in a different setting, the others _would_ have been interested in this, _especially_ Starfire who always craved new Earth experiences. S_he_ knew that, of course _he'd_ know that.

"Don't you think that was just slightly thoughtless?" Raven asked, out of the blue.

Robin blinked at her, hand with popcorn midway to his mouth. "Well, I don't think the Germans are stupid enough to take retribution on him even though he's drawn unnecessary attention to himself..."

She rolled her eyes impatiently, "Not the movie," she explained, sotto voice. He raised his eyebrows in confusion and she sighed, "Not telling the others _about_ the movie," she said meaningfully.

"Oh," he made a big show of understanding only to shake his head. "No," he admitted meeting her eyes in that piercing way he sometimes could, "I don't think it was thoughtless at all."

"But they would have enjoyed it, you know...at least some aspects of it..." he raised his eyebrows, clearly skeptical but she pressed on, "Starfire especially."

He smiled a little and shrugged, "Okay, _maybe_ Starfire," he conceded, "But would _you_ want to spend the entire movie explaining the political state of the world in 1940s? Or Nazis? Or..."

She stopped him with an upraised palm, "No," she admitted. "But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't if..."

"Besides," he interrupted and trailed off, his sight going back to the screen and for a few moments there was nothing but tension as Renault was told to shut down the café. And for a moment, she was lost in the moment of the movie, watching as Robin smiled at Renault's reasons for shutting the café down:

"_I am shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!"_ Renault said in a somewhat over dramatic manner.

When the roulette croupier handed Renault's winnings as the furor of evacuation went on around them and Renault took them casually with a nonchalant, _"Oh. Thank you very much," _while continuing to oversee the evacuation of the café, finishing by ordering every one out at once, Robin smirked.

They watched in silence as the German Nazi General approached Ilsa and subtly threatened her with danger to Laszlo, but as soon as the scene changed, Raven turned back to Robin.

"Besides?" she prompted as Ilsa and Laszlo walked into their hotel room.

Thankfully, he didn't pretend to have forgotten what he was going to say.

"Besides, you're the one who told me about experiencing this movie," he answered logically, his eyes still on the screen even though his attention was on her. "And I didn't really think the others had a part of that."

She agreed. She really did. But that didn't mean she didn't know there was something _else_ hidden about his reasons. But as Laszlo sat down on the couch next to Ilsa and the conversation turned to Rick, she turned her attention back to the screen and let it go.

Robin wasn't one to let things fester for too long anyway, she mused. When he wanted to tell her, he would. Meanwhile, she would watch one of her favorite parts of one of the best movies ever made in the comfortable presence of the boy next to her with the cool, gentle breeze off the bay running through her hair.

_xxxxxxx_

"_...I'll never have the strength to leave you again..."_

Silence reigned again as the whole congregation watched with baited breath as Rick set his plan into motion. Raven could see it in his eyes and his expression, Robin thought that Rick would do as he said he'd do: take Ilsa and leave Laszlo blowing in the wind. After all, Rick was a good guy, but not necessarily morally virginal. Rick had done things before, she could see Robin mulling over it in the way he frowned and the way he sat up, one arm around his upraised knee, bad things like letting the police take Ugarte and admitting how little it affected him. But he had done good things too, like help the young couple and in the way he took care of Sam and Carl and Yvonne.

She felt the nearness of him moments before he spoke, "All for the love of a woman," Robin whispered, more to himself than to her.

Raven glanced at him, "He's just trying to do the best thing..."

"For who?" Robin interrupted, "For himself?"

"If they love each other, should they be separate?" she countered, "If Ilsa doesn't love Laszlo, what good can she really be to him?"

Robin shook his head, "Love is..." he stopped himself, as if unsure of what to say, then looked at her, "Do you really think he's doing the right thing? Setting up a good man and a hero just so his heart doesn't break again?"

Raven looked away, back at the screen, "Who knows what's right when it comes to love?" she asked softly, "I don't think anyone but those in the midst of it are qualified to judge."

Robin was surprised at her answer. "Or maybe they're the only ones _not_ qualified...the only ones unable to be objective enough to do the right thing."

Raven looked at him and she wasn't certain what her expression showed, but she knew what she hoped he would learn: "Right and wrong, good and bad, these are fickle things," she said instead, "There _is_ no objective way of measuring them." She looked back at the screen as Renault hid, waiting for Laszlo and Ilsa to enter Rick's. "Some people might surprise you, no matter whether they appear to be one or the other."

Robin frowned, wondering what she meant, but he was drawn back to the screen as Renault realized that Rick has a gun trained on him, which was not part of Renault's plan. His eyes opened in surprise and his lips curved into a bit of a smile. He glanced at Raven who studiously ignored him while the scene changed to the fog covered airport hangar.

After all, this was Raven's favorite part of the whole movie.

_xxxxxxx_

Robin watched as Raven soaked up the images on the screen like some would the rays of the sun. He had seen clips of this through other means, he knew this scene and he finally realized that Rick wouldn't stay with Ilsa, even though he loved her. He knew he'd tell her to get on the plane and he even knew that line, _"Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life,"_ but he kept hoping that it would change, that somehow, they'd have a happy ending.

Raven, obviously, knew just how the movie would end, she watched it and her face was lit up with something that on someone else would have been emotion, but on her was serene understanding.

"_I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."_

The line stuck with him, more than any of the other lines he'd heard, and there were more than a few that were good. But that line struck a chord with him especially the way Rick held Ilsa's chin up and gave her their line while she cried.

Robin understood what she meant when she said that some people might surprise him, for Rick, himself, Raven, and especially in real life.

_xxxxxxx_

When Louis and Rick walked off into a sea of fog, and Bogart drawled out the famous line of all famous lines, _"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,"_ Raven finally did smile...just a little one, like one pleased and turned to find Robin with the same soft kind of content smile on his face.

As the credits roll and the lights of the park start to glow and push back the darkness, Robin stood and stretched like a contended cat.

"So?" Raven asked, looking up at him.

He grinned down at her and extended a hand to her gallantly, clearly meaning to help her up. She looked at his hand for a few moments before slipping her hand tentatively into his. His smile grew and he pulled her up easily.

Which brought her toe to toe with him, having to look up a little to meet his eyes. There had been a time back when they first met, that they were almost the same height. "What did you think?" she asked.

"I think I'd like to do this again," he admitted softly.

"Well, I have the movie on DVD if you want to watch it again."

He smiled, "I meant this," he motioned around them.

"Oh," she said. "Well, you found this one, I'm sure you can find another one for us to go to."

His grin widened and she caught it only out of the corner of her eye as she had already turned away to look at the mess of half-empty Tupperware, crumpled popcorn bag and empty soda bottles.

He tugged at her hand, which she hadn't realized he still held and her gaze went back to his, "Us?" he asked.

She didn't blush, but only just. "Well, if I'm invited, I mean."

His smile turned gentle and warm, welcoming, "Of course you're invited," he answered easily, "This is _our_ thing, isn't it?" he asked.

Raven opened her mouth to say something, anything, but a little girl's voice broke into the silence loudly.

"Mommy, lookit! It's Raven!" she exclaimed.

Raven winced and tried to hunch into herself to make herself invisible. How come little kids were the ones who always recognized her?

"No, that's not Raven, stupid!" her slightly older brother chastised haughtily. "She's not dressed like Raven, is she?"

Raven hoped the obnoxious older brother would prove she wasn't her without having to come and bother them.

"Uh-huh, it is so Raven!" the little girl argued ardently, "Look at her hair!"

"Anyone can have purple hair, silly!" the boy countered with stoic, 7 year old logic.

"It's Raven, isn't it, Mommy?"

"Maybe," the mother's smooth voice interceded, "But if it were Raven wouldn't she be looking by now with the fuss you two are making?" the mother asked kindly.

"I s'pose so..." the little girl conceded. "Although she looks an awful lot like Raven..." she trailed off as they walked away.

Raven hadn't even noticed how Robin had put his arms around her in some instinctive response to her attempt to hide herself until the boy spoke up again, "NUH-UH! He is NOT Robin, either!" the boy insisted, clearly exasperated, in answer to the little girl's unheard question. Robin's arms tensed around her.

"How can you know that!" the little girl wondered, yelling the way only little kids could.

"Because that boy isn't wearing a mask, his uniform, _and_ he has a girlfriend, stupid, and Robin is too cool to be interested in a _girl_..." the boy said, his tone making the word girl sound like a disease or a particularly gross looking vegetable.

It came crashing down on her what they might look like. Her arms were folded between their bodies, pressing against his chest as his arms locked behind her back and her head was lowered, as if she were very cold and he were trying to keep off the chill. She hadn't even realized how she had gotten herself into this situation, or noticed it when she pressed against him trying to hide her face from view, but she _had_ unconsciously tucked herself into his arms and now she was being held as close as a lover. The realization ran through her like electricity and Raven was instant movement, tugging back away from him as if she were afraid of being electrocuted.

Surprisingly, Robin held firm, "Shhh..." he said calmly, "They're still staring at you and they'll see your face if you move right now." His voice was a low murmur under the buzz of the crowd around them.

Raven forced herself to be utterly still, but she couldn't do much for the erratic beat of her heart. She felt stupid and ridiculous for reacting the way she had. After all, he was just trying to keep her from being found out. He knew what he was doing, he always did. She forced herself into calm, closing her eyes so that she wasn't staring at his exposed throat as he swallowed and tried to find her center. And as if she had somehow opened a tap, she could _feel_ Robin all around her: she could smell the clean, soapy scent of him like the island after a heavy rain, she could feel his warmth like her warmest blankets when they had been warmed all night with her body heat, she could hear the echo of his heart beat running a little faster than was normal for a calm state.

She had never felt what it was like to be completely engulfed by someone before. Sure, she had been hugged and she had hugged before, she had even hugged Robin before, but this was different. Whereas in a hug, her arms were usually around the person, here, she was completely enfolded by Robin's arms, her own arms pressed tight against his chest and her head cradled under his chin. She was as close to being completely hidden inside his arms as was possible. She had never felt so small before, so..._protected_.

"I think it's safe now," he told her quietly, his voice reverberating through his chest.

"Alright," she answered, so quietly she wasn't sure he heard her.

Slowly, his arms released her and fell away and as if waking from a dream, Raven stepped first one then two steps back from him, her own arms lowering to her sides as they looked at each other.

"The kids drew attention and other people were looking at us, probably trying to guess whether you were Raven or not, but everyone's mostly gone now," he explained.

Raven nodded, "Thank you," she told him and without another look at him, Raven turned and was at work cleaning up their picnic space.

'It's going to be an interesting ride back to the Tower,' Raven thought as Robin worked quietly beside her.

**Notes:**

(1) Reference to my _It Only Takes A Moment, Part VI: Classics_ wherein they have this discussion.

(2) The look, in case you can't tell, is because in _Classics_ Raven points out to Robin how it's a misconception that the line is: "Play it again, Sam" as common culture tends to think it is. I didn't feel like explaining all that there, so here you go, note 2.

**Explanation of Dedication:** In her review of _Classics_, **_MsLessa_** said: "My only regret is not seeing Robin watch Casablanca, so I hope you make mention of it in the following chapter." You see? I do remember and pay attention to what you guys review about.

**A/N:** Okay, so this is obviously one of the first _Moments_ to make a direct reference to another _Moment_. The reference is obviously to _Part VI: Classics_. Like I said before, every quote in _italics_ is a direct quote from the movie, _Casablanca_ and you don't really have to know what's going on in the movie to follow what's going on with Robin and Raven because mostly it's their reaction to what's going on or whatever's going on is going on like background. Although, as I've said before, this movie KICKS bootie, so you should go see it if you haven't. Hope you guys like it!

This is also the story that wouldn't end! I kept thinking that I was going to let it end in different points, like where Raven just lets Robin's explanation go and leans back to enjoy the movie and the breeze, that was me trying to get Puck to let the story end, but he wouldn't have it and insisted that I keep going. I guess he wanted to let Robin cop a feel at least once in the stories...((wicked chuckle)).

**Disclaimers:** Obviously, I don't own neither Teen Titans, their world, nor the movie, _"__Casablanca"_ and it's writing. I don't make money off this either.

**Side Note:** Do you guys see where this is going? (waggles eyebrows) I'm getting a very wicked little thought and I think I like it...see if you guys can guess what I'm setting up!

**ALERT:** I'm putting up some, as they would say in New Orleans, "laignappe" (Sandy, did I spell that right?) in the emsscraps journal for this vignette, too. I'm putting up, the image of the t-shirts they're wearing, just because I saw them while shopping for myself and that's why I put them in them, and I'm putting up an alternate snippet of conversation that would have been near the end, but that I changed to what is there now instead because I liked it better. So, go check them out, y'all!


	12. XII: Cy's Say

**EDIT:** I was just informed that **_Newpoint1997_** is NOT, in fact, a "lovely lady". He is actually a person of the male persuasion and although I'm sure still lovely (in a masculine sort of way), he also has a great sense of humor and was not offended by my grievous error. Let that be a lesson to you people: don't assume.

**A/N:** Well. Here it is. The much anticipated ((snickers)) next part. I knew that I wanted it to be a different kind of point of view, and I hope you guys will forgive me for giving you something a little bit outside of what you'd probably grown to expect from me for this series.

**Special Thanks:** To my three brand spanking new, amazingly wonderful betas. **_Astarael00_**, **_Newpoint1997_**, and **_Kysra_**. (Well, Kysra been one of my 'plot' betas for awhile, hasn't she? But still...) A great whooping big THANKS to all three betas. The grammatical correctness of this _Moment_ is owed entirely to these lovely people who took time out of their own busy schedules and daily lives to first of all, be nice enough to offer to do this for me, and second of all, brave my endless overflow of run-on sentences and the cold war that has been raging betwixt me and commas for decades now. (Okay, so maybe a decade...I'm not old enough to have been writing for two or more whole decades...)

Anyway, if there are any errors left here, I assure you they are plainly my doing where I made conscious choices for style or tone that I preferred to keep.

**Disclaimer:** I own Cyborg no more than I own any of the others. A dreadful shame, I know. I mean, c'mon! Cartoon-Network isn't using them! So, DC is using them, so what?

_**It Only Takes A Moment  
**__**Part XII: Cy's Say  
**__**by Em**_

_"Women have a wonderful instinct about things. __They can discover everything except the obvious."  
_- Oscar Wilde

There were quite a few indicators that the winds of change were blowing through Titans Tower.

It was a well-known fact that Cyborg was _not_ the most observant of their group. Hell, he wasn't even the second most observant.

Come to think of it, he'd be pretty hard pressed to say which of the two resident birds would actually take home the title of "Most Observant" at the end of the day. Not because it wasn't pretty obvious that Robin _was_ observant, but because no one could ever be entirely certain just what Raven observed.

Suffice to say, he wasn't in the top two...but, he was a close third.

Even so it had taken him months to realize what was happening right under their noses. Frankly, if it hadn't been for what he'd come to call "Home Cooked Meal Day" he might not have put anything together at all. It hadn't even been the shock of Raven cooking that had highlighted the change taking place around them. Oh, no. It had actually been the subtle things...the little things that they themselves probably weren't even aware of.

In retrospect, Cyborg thought, he should have put it all together way before he did.

After all, Raven could say that she had only played _Goblin King III_ to 'improve her hand-eye coordination, reflexes, and teamwork skills' (1) until she was blue in the face, but Cyborg knew better. He knew that nobody but Robin could get Raven to play a video game. Not even if the fate of the free world depended on it.

The funny thing was, he'd known that only Robin could convince Raven to do something she had sworn up and down she would never do, even before he had come to the realizations of Home Cooked Meal Day or HCMD, for short. He knew it. It was an inalienable truth, of the kind the Declaration of Independence was founded upon: like all men are created equal; like Beast Boy would trip and fall at least once every day; like the T-Car was the best mother-effin-car in the whole world. He knew and accepted it, and didn't even think about why it was, how it came to be, or what it might mean.

And, as if that hadn't been enough, some time later, the whole mug fiasco blew up in their faces. Who would've thought that giving a girl a few funny mugs, which they could all tell amused her (and nothing much amused Raven), could cause so much trouble? Again, Cyborg hadn't noticed anything much was wrong at first. Sure, in some part of his mind, he had picked up on the fact that despite having been the first to have given her a mug, Robin never gave her another one, but he had figured that Robin had better things to do than look at the wall of funny mugs every time they went to the Java Café . Besides, Robin had never commented about them giving her the mugs, really...at least not until Speedy showed up with one.

_No one_ could've anticipated the way that was going to rear up and bite them on the ass. True, Speedy was an incorrigible womanizer and he probably shouldn't have gone off and given her a mug of such questionable taste, but was that any reason for Robin to have acted as though Speedy had compromised her virtue or something? Hell, he was the big brother of the group and he hadn't seen anything particularly wrong with it. After all, Raven was a big girl capable of taking care of herself. If she wasn't offended by it...well, it certainly wasn't Robin's place to look about ready call Speedy out for a duel about it.

Of course, it could've been worse. Robin could've actually confronted Speedy with all that pent up indignation. He hadn't, however, and Raven had not a hint about Robin's incensed ranting about the whole deal. But Cyborg had known. It was hard for him _not_ to have known since he was the one Robin was doing all the ranting to.

He probably should've guessed something was up right about that time. He hadn't, though, and after a few more days of occasional (but tiresome) ranting about the issue, Robin just up and never mentioned it again. Not even when Speedy and the rest of the Titans East had given Raven a whole new set of mugs at their quarterly joint meeting. So, understandably, Cyborg had forgotten about it.

That is, at least until HCMD when he saw the way Raven and Robin were acting together. Oh, he could say that they were acting strangely, but the truth of the matter was, their behavior itself wasn't exactly strange. No, it was actually the most _natural _he had ever seen either of the two behave. Not that he had realized the _non_-strangeness of it when he first witnessed it. As he watched the casual touches and easy camaraderie between the birds, he had been more than a little shocked, to be sure. But later, when he had time to think about it (while nurturing the warm, content feeling of being stuffed with a good meal), he slowly started to realize how _right_ the two had seemed together.

How _right_ they always seemed while working together.

It was a silly thing to notice, and it wasn't like Cyborg was looking to notice something like that, but he'd noticed it nonetheless. And once he'd noticed it, he couldn't just un-notice it. So he noticed, and he wondered.

Slowly, ideas started fermenting in his mind..._things_ started occurring to him...

Things that, frankly, were probably none of his business.

After all, if Robin and Raven had come to some sort of agreement as to how and with whom they wanted to spend their free time, that really wasn't any concern of his now, was it?

These _things_ between Robin and Raven didn't seem to affect the team in any way or the way that they dealt with situations in their roles as team leader and second in command. And the rest of the team either didn't notice, or didn't care. Beast Boy wasn't as stupid as he let others believe he was, so Cyborg had watched him after HCMD for signs that he was bothered by what they'd witnessed in the kitchen, but he didn't appear to be. As for Star, she was either oblivious to these changes or fine with things as well.

Robin and Raven had always found comfort in the silence of each other's company. They tended to like the same shows, so it was never surprising that they were often found in the common room together, idly watching television. And because they were both known for being observant, it hadn't been a surprise when Robin could prepare Raven's tea and Raven knew how Robin took his coffee. It was also common knowledge that the only person who could usually engage Raven in any sort of verbal sparring was their leader and that once they got going, it would take either a city emergency or a the threat of Star's Pudding of Friendship to get them to stop.

So, even after Robin and Raven came home near to sunrise dressed in the vestiges of costumes after being caught on film by a paparazzo, Cyborg continued to believe most emphatically that until informed otherwise by one of them, whatever it was they had was really none of his business.

It wasn't until the day Raven had actually looked surprised when Robin had wanted to go along with her to Gotham that Cyborg started to wonder if maybe things weren't as settled as he'd thought they were. If they had been, then Raven should have jumped at the chance to be alone with him rather than look at him as if she weren't quite sure what to make of his offer.

It wasn't until then that Cyborg had started to wonder if maybe Raven wasn't quite as perceptive as he had always given her credit for.

And although Cyborg was tempted to sit one of them down for a chat he still adamantly believed that it wasn't any of his business. Still clung to the belief that one-day, one (or both) of them would come to him to talk about it. Or at the least that at any moment, he'd walk into a room where the two were and catch them jumping apart guiltily. But nothing happened.

Cyborg wondered what the hell could Robin be thinking? He wondered how Raven could be so blind? He started to grow frustrated, seeing the way they acted around each other and yet were so distant where it counted. For Cyborg, it was like watching two friends hover on the brink of something great only to watch them walk away from it because they couldn't see how close they really were. He _ached_ to just give them a little push, but after the whole 'girlfriend' debacle when they were stranded on that weird planet, he'd sworn off meddling and he had every intention of sticking to it.

Finally, that winter, by the time they had woken up and found the snow had turned their front yard into a scene out of a Christmas Card, Cyborg had just about given up on the whole enterprise altogether. But then he glanced at the window of the Tower and found Raven standing there like some princess in her tower, her gaze fixed _right on Robin_.

_'Oh, fer cryin' out loud!'_ Cyborg had thought, _'That's it...I'm going to get these two together if it kills me!'_ and so he gave Beast Boy the idea to go prod Raven into joining them outside in the hopes of figuring out _some_ way to make the two clueless teens come to some sort of understanding. When Cyborg turned around to see Robin walking toward the Tower, he had been relieved, thinking that perhaps they would work it out all on their own. Robin was, after all, very perceptive, and he had to have noticed Raven watching him.

Finally, when Raven walked out of the Tower wearing Robin's scarf, Cyborg had almost jumped for joy. Surely, the oblivious girl had figured it out then?

But nothing really changed. Oh, if he squinted just right, Cyborg could see a bit of a difference in the way Raven acted around Robin. But then again, Raven had really started to treat all of them a little differently. She was warmer, almost. As if having come out to play with them had allowed her to finally see them as her family. She had come to some conclusions that day; that much was obvious even to Beast Boy. But she hadn't come to _all_ the conclusions.

Not by a long shot.

But Cyborg had realized something else that day in the snow. He had realized that even if Raven was too oblivious to notice what was developing between her and their leader, Robin wasn't anywhere _near_ as oblivious. Robin had come to, possibly, the right conclusions. Cyborg was almost sure of it. Except, as observant as Robin was, he was also completely clueless as to how to go about doing something about it.

So could anyone _really_ blame Cyborg when he finally gave in to the temptation to meddle?

After all, that ad in the paper announcing the showing of _Casablanca_ (a movie Robin had one day casually mentioned Raven suggested he watch) in the park had seemed too good an opportunity to miss. Off-handedly commenting on the announcement in the paper within Robin's hearing wasn't meddling, really-- it was more like providing an opportunity. Everyone knew that providing opportunities wasn't really meddling, it was more like being a...well, a facilitator, really.

There was nothing wrong with being a facilitator.

And, anyway, just because he made certain everyone else had something to do didn't mean he was meddling, did it?

No. Of course not.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

**Notes:** (1) This is a reference to something someone pointed out to me in a review to "The Game". In the new Teen Titan Go! Comics, Raven DOES play a game with Robin and Robin claims that it's good to improve all those things that Raven apprently regurgitates to Cyborg when she is theoretically questioned after they find out about her having played the game.

**A/N:** So obviously, this hearkens back to previous _Moments_. And in some instances, gives you a brief insight into what could have been happening aside from what you got through Robin or Raven's point of view. Hints at other things going on around the birds, so to speak.

**Special A/N:** Since the last Part was posted, several exciting things have occurred. (If you've been following my 'emsscraps' journal, you're up to date. If you haven't, here's your chance.

1. Instinct has MORE fanart! YEY! **_Kysra_** on FFN (aka **_GuardianKysra_** on livejournal and elsewhere) has done a sketch for her favorite part of each of the previous _Moments._ You can find links to them all here: http / emsscraps . livejournal . com / 14020 . html (remove the spaces)

AND, if you read that list very carefully, you'll see that for _Moment_ #8, Kysra's sketch inspired me to do a series of "sidestories". They're linked below the link to Kysra's drawing.

2. Remember when I kept mentioning how 'some day' I'd figure out how to do up a poll so that people could vote for their favorite _Moment_? Well, I've done it now. Of course, I put it up before I had Cy's Say ready for mass consumption and posted, so you can't vote on that one if that's your favorite. I won't change the options until after I've posted a few more new vignettes. So, for now, you can go vote on which of the first 11 _Moments _you liked best. You can find the poll here: http / www . freeblogpoll . com / view poll . php ? poll id 35116 (remove the spaces)

And if you have trouble finding it from that link, then please go to my emsscraps journal and I am linking to it after every recent journal entry having to do with _It Only Takes A Moment_ that I post. (Including the review responses which are going up lickity-split)

Please vote and comment on the main journal entry about the poll if you want to, so that I know you've voted and if you'd like to tell me which you voted for and why, I won't mind. ((wink))

So far, I've had 18 people vote and "Looking at You" has a significant lead with 6 votes. "Pasghetti" coming in a close second with 4 votes. So if those aren't your favorites, be sure and go vote to make certain your favorite is known!


	13. XIII: Fear Factor

**A/N:** I'm back! And we're back to (mostly) Raven's pov again! I hope you enjoy this one...it's turned out to be rather a doozy! (27 pages in word, but length's not all I'm talking about!)

**Disclaimers:** I don't own any of the Titan characters. I do maybe own...well...you'll see. (Don't want to ruin it for y'all)

**Thanks:** As always to my betas, who I put through endless amounts of work trying to figure out what I mean to say and help me say it. Without you guys, I'd be posting some pretty messy fics: **_Astrael100_** and **_Newpoint._** And to **_MsLessa_** who served as a wonderful plot-beta for me this time around, making certain that this whole chapter worked as a Moment and whether or not I should keep certain aspects so to them I take off my proverbial hat. (Or, is that metaphysical hat? ((shrug)) Whatev...you guys get the drift.) **_MsLessa_** also suggested the title for this piece so, double hats off to her for that! Also, **_Newpoint_**, I owe SPECIAL and gi-normous thanks to you, my _male_ friend. (I refuse to let that drop!) because it was thanks to him that I revamped most of this chapter plot-wise until it finally pleased me and what I wanted it to do in this point in the "Moment-Verse" (which _is_ actually a word, soon to be in Webster's Dictionary...or, my own personal dictionary in any case, because Abbie has given me permission to make an adjective out of it, so nyah.). Well, I didn't really 're-vamp' it, because I didn't really change things, I just made certain things more obvious and tied in certain things, and it was all thanks to him.

Individual thanks to each reviewer is going, as always onto my 'emsscraps' journal.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_**It Only Takes A Moment  
**__**Part XIII: Fear Factor  
**_**_by Em_**

"_Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear — not absence of fear."  
- _Mark Twain

Raven stared at The Beast, apprehension evident in each of the frown lines over her brow, the slight slackness of her lips, and the tightness of her shoulders. Her eyes, as they set upon its copious, gleaming hide were no wider than normal, but there was a look of dread deep in their lavender depths, a shine not unlike shock as she took in the sparks that flew from its eyes and its quick, slithering movements as it struck. These were the sort of eyes one presented to something that defied their very idea of nature.

In short, Raven stared at The Beast as if she had never seen another quite like it, and wasn't altogether certain it should be allowed to exist at all.

Logically, Raven knew it was quite ridiculous. She wasn't afraid. Not by a long shot. For although she had to admit (much to her chagrin) that she did _sometimes_ do fear she most certainly did NOT fear the likes of this…this…_thing._

'No,' she assured herself. 'It isn't fear.' But perhaps it was a close cousin.

Apprehension? Alarm? Aversion? Disquietude? Unease? Wariness?

She sighed. She could go through the entire listing in the thesaurus in alphabetical order and backwards, too, but it wouldn't get her any closer to conquering it, whatever _it_ was. She had used just about every trick in her internal arsenal merely to stand before the behemoth's presence, to ignore the tortured cries of its victims and not look away as the sun was reflected off it's metallic-like armor.

Raven hated having a weakness. Weaknesses were not something she tolerated, especially her own. So, although it would have been easy to avoid coming here at all, and hence to ignore the whole situation completely, she had steeled her resolve and decided to confront it head on. Her friends, who were at least momentarily preoccupied with their own challenges, had probably not even realized that she was not with them. They would not notice her attack on The Beast. Not if she acted quickly, before they noted her absence and came looking for her.

So far, she had been lucky in that they had, during their previous encounters with this enemy, never noticed how she avoided The Beast at all costs and had accepted her feeble excuses or disappearances. However, she knew that it would only be a matter of time before they began asking questions. Questions that she was not prepared to answer. Therefore, she preferred to face this challenge alone rather than experience the inevitable humiliation that would come if her teammates were to discover that was was terrified of The Beast.

She would beat this demon. She would best this monster. She would _not_ let fear limit her from achieving victory over the monstrosity. Fear (no matter what she called out) would _not_ confine her. She clenched her fist and pressed her lips together in determination, her shoulders squaring as she shifted her weight to step forward.

"Raven?"

Raven responded as any tightly-wound-about-to-do-battle-with-their-fear person would have responded: she jumped, then grasped the hand on her shoulder, flipped the offender away from her and stepped back with power raised and ready to pound a nearby trash can into his face…

...into Robin's face…

...Robin's shocked and confused face…

...Robin who lay on his ass where she had dropped him because he was obviously too dazed to stand.

She blinked, blushed, and wished the earth would swallow her all at once. Luckily, she moved the trashcan away from him, letting it crash to the ground, before her powers gave out in her immediate rush of embarrassment.

"Sorry," she mumbled before turning to escape into the crowd.

Recovering rather quickly from the shock of having his teammate nearly pound him with a trashcan, Robin ran after her, grabbing her wrist, and jerking her to a stop before she had gone more than a few steps. It wasn't until after her whole arm twitched with the effort of not pulling away that he realized what he'd done. Still, he refused to let her go. He knew if he let her go, she'd bolt.

"What's going on?" he asked, concern lacing his tone. "What are you…?"

She whirled to face him, and for a brief moment, there was naked panic in her eyes. "I'm not afraid!" she exclaimed before continuing her attempt at escape.

Robin blinked but held onto her wrist. "That's not what I was going to ask."

She forced herself exhale, close her eyes and recite her mantra, silently in an attempt to calm her racing heartbeat. She really hated her fear emotion. Really, _really_ hated it. It always made her lose control so easily. Upon gaining some semblance of normalcy, Raven opened her eyes and calmly turned to face Robin.

Robin waited until she opened her eyes to speak, "I was trying to ask what you were doing."

She hid her face from him. "Nothing."

"Almost squashing me and then running away with panic in your eyes is not 'nothing', Raven," he said seriously. "If something's frightened you, then you know we need to deal with it."

There was a part of Raven that _wanted _to tell Robin about her fear. It was this same part of her she had listened to when she unfroze him during her birthday that year, the same part that told prompted her to confess about her tradition of cooking on her mother's birthday and that allowed him to see her mouthing her favorite lines to her favorite movie. It was a part of her that had _liked_ being held so protectively in Robin's arms after the movie.

It was that selfsame part of her that she had decided after the _Casablanca_ incident, she didn't know what to do about.

And then, there was the other part of her. The part that didn't know what any of it meant and certainly didn't want to investigate it. The part that had been hammered into her by breeding and training...the part that said she should ignore any and all emotions and that she should only rely on herself to resolve her own problems.

She hadn't always listened to that more logical part of herself when her friends were involved and as far as Robin himself was concerned, her track record was a far cry from exemplary.

She knew that, but as she stood facing him down while he insisted on being let into yet another aspect of her life, it was the logical part of her that won out.

Rather than share with him and rely on him to help take the fear away, she glared at him. "It's under control."

"Like it was after _Wicked Scary_?" he pressed.

Beyond any of the things that had happened to her friends because of her, the incident with _Wicked Scary _was the one she felt the most guilty for and he knew it. It was the one she could have controlled if she only had known more about herself, if she had only admitted to being frightened rather than let her pride and stubbornness get in the way. She caught the meaning behind his choice of parallel, but she didn't think it appropriate and she really didn't appreciate it. "That was uncalled for."

For a brief moment, before she had spoken, the surprise had broken through her normally placid facade. Just as quickly, however, it was gone, leaving behind only a cold reproach in her lavender stare that made him wonder whether he might have crossed the line. He wondered, but he wouldn't back down. "It's the truth, Rae," he insisted. "If something's frightening you we need to face it."

She wanted to cross her arms over her chest, but considering that he was still holding onto her wrist and she couldn't, she settled for shifting her weight onto her left hip instead and trying to make it look casual. "_We_ implies one too many people," she said coldly.

He was, as usual, not deterred. He knew she only used that coldness when she was trying to push someone away and she wouldn't be trying to push him away if he wasn't so close to something big. Briefly, he wondered whether or not he should continue to press.

After all, he understood Raven's need for privacy, he really did, but there was no middle ground with Raven and he understood that about her too. If he didn't press, there never would be a time she would feel comfortable sharing something with him, because she never felt comfortable sharing things with anyone.

Sure, lately, she had shared some things with him, but it hadn't slipped his notice that it was only because he pressed her that she had shared any of it at all. Of course, the promising aspect of it all was that she didn't threaten him with violence every time he pressed. She simply fought tooth and nail to keep it from him.

It was a precarious balance, this sharing with Raven, and although he wasn't altogether certain he could explain its finer details should anyone ever ask, he knew them. That was enough.

"If there's something around here that's scaring you this badly, then I'm not leaving you to face it alone," he insisted.

She realized she could just sink into the ground, thereby avoiding the whole argument entirely. She probably would have, except they were standing on the dirt ground and there was nothing under her to phase to except dirt.

His insistence and her resistance were only making the eventual discovery of what it was she was actually afraid of even more humiliating. There was, however, no way that she could get out of it. At least, none that she could see. He wouldn't let this go now, and it was already too late for her to tell him what she was afraid of and salvage any remnants of her dignity.

A little girl in pigtails, no more than seven years old, passed behind Robin and caught Raven's eye. She smiled and waved with the hand that her older companion wasn't holding as they stepped up to the monster. Raven followed the little girl's progress with a sinking dread growing in the pit of her stomach as her sight fell on the colossus weakly illuminated in the dying light of the setting sun behind it. The Beast seemed even more menacing cast in spectral shadows and though she could no longer see its dangerous jaws or insidious limbs, she was no less afraid when its roar preceded the screams of the hapless souls caught in its grip. Unable to react as she was trained as a superhero to react, her heart constricted in utter humiliation.

Robin, when she finally made herself look at him, was inspecting the area around them, his all-seeing, all-analyzing detective eyes searching for the thing that had frightened her so badly. She knew he would never guess. No one would ever guess. But he wouldn't stop until he found out, even if he had to name each and every item around them until she reacted.

"Robin," she called to him, her voice soft and almost pleading. "Just let it go," she asked as he met her eyes. "Please, it's nothing, really, just…" she trailed off and lowered her gaze once more, seemingly enthralled by the grooves on the toes of her boots peaking out from the frayed hem of her worn jeans. "It's stupid and I can handle it myself, okay?"

He cocked his head to the side a little and regarded her as if he were seeing her for the first time. "Raven," he said, his voice just as soft as hers had been. "I have no doubt that you _can_ handle it by yourself." Her head snapped in surprise at the simple statement. He smiled and his hand, still holding her wrist, squeezed in comfort. "But I will not let you go through that alone."

It was over. Whenever Robin got _that _tone to his voice, she knew he would accept absolutely nothing but whatever it was he was after. If anyone else had found her they might not have even pressed her so hard for the reasons behind her erratic behavior in the first place. Even if they had, nothing they would have said could have bullied her into sharing what she obviously had no intention of sharing. With Cyborg, she would have been gratefully evasive and with Starfire she would've been sincerely open about not wanting to be open. With Beast Boy...well, Beast Boy never quite knew how to deal with her, so she could have simply ignored him and he would have eventually gotten the drift and left her alone. But with Robin...

She bowed her head, sighed, and mentally condemned every single boy scout impulse he had to the hottest pits of Hell.

He must have noticed her surrender because he took a step or two closer to her. "What is it? What were you trying to face?"

She exhaled and looked up at his maskless eyes, allowing him a rare glimpse at the fear that had never quite left her expression, despite the embarrassment she felt. He nodded his encouragement and smiled. She blinked and oh-so-slowly turned her head until it was facing the monster that brought her such all consuming fear.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see him turn to follow her line of sight. The Beast was in motion and when it roared but a measly few feet away from where they stood, Raven tensed, the screams of its latest victims echoing in her ears even after they had been swept away.

Robin's chin dropped and she could almost hear the 'oh' of surprise he barely managed to suppress. She wanted to die. Or disappear. She seriously considered phasing into the dirt…even a mouthful of dirt had to be better than standing next to Robin as he realized that the source of her fear -- this wretched dread that they had been speaking about all this time, that had made him so worried and show so much of his friendship and loyalty was all because of…

"The rollercoaster," he spoke in the silence between them.

She just barely refrained from groaning and lowering her head in shame. She wrapped herself in a cold mask of anger and raised her eyes to his and opened her mouth to tell him just what he could do with the jokes that were sure to come (and his birdarangs too for that matter). Then she saw his face. It wasn't even remotely akin to teasing. He was serious and pensive, and she knew him enough to know he was mulling over a problem in his head.

Maybe he was trying to figure out why she was so deathly afraid of rollercoasters? Maybe he was trying to figure out how he could keep a straight face for another few moments?

Her anger melted away like mist in the sun. "Yes," she answered, even though he hadn't asked. She looked back at the coaster as the cars rushed by them again, the riders screaming far more than they would were they being dragged down into the depths of Tartarus.

She couldn't look at him as he worked through her revelation. She knew his expressions too well and hadn't the courage to chance seeing anything like disappointment or even amusement come across his features, so she looked instead at the people around her, all of whom were milling about and generally ignoring the two teenagers. It wasn't hard to ignore the Titans when they dressed in civilian clothing, which was why they had worn them that day in the first place.

She wondered what they might look like to those people and decided that they might just look normal. A normal boy and a normal girl. Maybe they might think that she was one of those wild teenagers who went to rock concerts (the vintage Iron Maiden t-shirt might have spoken to that idea) and dyed her hair a different color every other week. And maybe they might think that the boy in the baseball cap who looked like an Abercrombie and Fitch model was too nice looking to be spending time with a girl like her. Maybe they didn't pay them any attention at all.

"So," she tried to sound casual, "since you now see it is nothing I can't handle alone, you can leave anytime."

When he hadn't spoken, and hadn't let her go, Raven glanced at him only to find that not only had the expression of consideration not left his face, but he was still looking right at her. "Is it just roller coasters, or is it anything that goes up high?" he asked.

She looked at him, clearly annoyed. "I am not afraid of heights, Robin," she said, rolling her eyes despite her previous embarrassment. "I fly, remember?" she asked on a whisper.

"So it's not the height," he wondered, "is it the speed?"

She sighed. "If you want to know what about it frightens me, why don't you just ask?"

He looked mildly chastised. "Right, sorry," he smiled wryly and shrugged. "Force of habit." Raven rolled her eyes. "So, what about it scares you?" he asked.

She considered telling him off, she considered picking a fight, she considered just ignoring him or giving him the 'none of your business' look she knew he would be able to interpret, but she couldn't ignore that other part of herself twice in such a short span of time.

"It's not exactly the speed or the height," she admitted, "It's more like the…" she trailed off, searching for a way to put into words an indescribable fear. She hadn't really ever thought about what it was that scared her. "The lack of control," she decided. She looked at him, "I think..." she was considering her words, as if she had never had to use them before, "it's being trapped in a situation that I don't have control over…" she concluded.

"Okay, control issues," he nodded. "But just because you might've had a bad experience on a coaster when you were a child doesn't mean…" something in her eyes stopped him and he made quick work of deciphering what her expression implied. "You've…" he started to look surprised, "never ridden a coaster?"

'Just like Robin,' she thought sarcastically, 'to nail it right on the head.' Outwardly she nodded her head. "Never," she confirmed.

"Wait..." he looked decidedly more surprised than when she said she was afraid of the coaster in the first place. He shook his head, "I can't believe that you've never ridden a coaster because you're afraid of it."

"That's not why," she started to argue, then stopped herself, "but I fail to see why that might be so surprising."

"Because you're Raven," he said simply. She waited for him to finish the statement and he sighed, "And you would never live for so long without trying to beat something that you're afraid of."

She was shocked, and a little embarrassed, at the utter faith in his voice. Her embarrassment made her mad and it manifested as offense on her features. "Of course I wouldn't."

He did smile then and it only made her angrier that he found her offense amusing. "No, of course not, but then..."

She leaned close to him to whisper meaningfully, "I'm not from around here, remember?" she paused to give him time to grasp her meaning. "I'd never seen a rollercoaster before we came here for the first time a couple of years ago."

Realization dawned on him, "Oh."

She tried to cross her arms again and found herself still unable to because Robin was still holding onto her as if she would escape if he let her go. "Yes. Oh." She tugged at his hold sharply, hoping to get it free, but when his hold only tightened instinctively, she sighed. "I will not run away, you can release me," she said dryly.

He glanced at her for a moment as if he were trying to determine her sincerity before finally letting her go and turning his attention back to the rollercoaster. She made a conscious effort to not rub at the place where his skin had been touching hers for so long. Instead, she looked back at the rollercoaster herself and frowned, blaming it entirely for the direction the encounter had taken.

"So, were you going to ride it?" he looked sideways at her and smiled wryly, "before I interrupted you?"

She was stuck. If she admitted that she was going to try to ride it, she would have to either ride it with Robin watching her, or make some excuse which would inevitably sound as if she were 'chickening out'. Alternately, if she claimed she was not about to ride the roller coaster after admitting her fea-eh, wariness of it, then she would appear to not have been even trying to best her fear at all. It was a no-win situation.

"Yes," she answered, annoyed.

"So..." for just a second, as he looked at the coaster and at the people around them, Raven thought he might be looking for pointless conversation fillers in preparation of dropping the topic, but then he looked at her and she knew he had only been considering the best course of attack. "Shall we?" he asked, extending a smile and a hand to her.

She looked at his hand in blatant confusion. "Shall we, what?" she asked, even though she had a sinking feeling that she knew just what he was planning.

His smile turned into a grin, "Shall we go?"

"Thank you, but I don't need you to escort me home," she replied primly.

He laughed, "I didn't mean home."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Then, just _where _did you intend we go, Wonder Boy?"

He motioned to the line forming outside the coaster's entrance. She leaned away from him and was finally able to fold her arms across her chest, tucking her hands out of sight as if she were afraid he'd try to snatch them.

"You don't seem to understand the concept," she enunciated sarcastically. "I am...afraid," she admitted, not without some difficulty, "of riding that freak of nature," she finished, pointing at the ride for emphasis.

He nodded and grinned at her, "So I gathered," he agreed, "And you were attempting to face your fear when I interrupted you."

Reluctantly, she nodded. "_Attempt_ being the operative word."

Robin's grin turned soft at the edges and his eyes were sympathetic and understanding as they bore into hers. "So, let's get back to it, then," he said decisively.

Raven started to argue but stopped, instinctively leaning a little further back as he stepped closer to offer his hand again. "I'm not going to let you do this by yourself, Raven," he re-asserted.

Her look softened for a brief moment before she controlled herself. "Thank you," she said sincerely, "but this is something I need to do alone."

Robin misconstrued her wariness, "I won't force you," he said gently. Raven almost scoffed, and Robin hurried to fill the silence before she told him exactly what she thought about him being able to force her to do anything, "And it'll be no less impressive that you faced your fear with a friend alongside you than if you do it alone," he pointed out logically. "I'll just be there for moral support and to...to..." he tried to think of an unobtrusive enough purpose, "clear a path back if you decide not to ride, and to make sure nothing happens to you if you do ride."

He made it sound so simple that the urge to tell him the true reason intensified. She exhaled very slowly and shook her head. "I'm embarrassed," she whispered.

It was a miracle he heard her over the carnival noise. "Of what?" he asked gently. "You already told me that you're afraid, what could be more embarrassing than that?"

"There are far more embarrassing things than being afraid," she assured him.

"Like?" he prompted.

She sighed. "Like showing that fear."

"You're embarrassed about...what?" he asked, "Screaming?"

She nodded. "Screaming, clutching, crying, throwing up, fainting, all of those possible reactions to being afraid."

Robin smiled, just slightly amused. "You don't even really know how you'll react, do you?" She narrowed her eyes at him. He was hardly deterred by her look, "You might not act in any of those ways," he pointed out. At her look of skepticism, he chuckled, "Well, think about it, Raven," he started in his reasonable voice, "You've been afraid before, haven't you?"

Again, she nodded, but she wasn't happy about it.

"Then wouldn't you agree it's pretty safe to say that your reaction now will be similar to what it was then?"

"No," she answered without doubt. "It's a totally different kind of fear."

"How so?" he prompted. "Fear is fear."

She shook her head. "This is about losing control. When I fight a villain or go out to battle, I keep telling myself that whether I win or lose depends on how hard I try, how much I put into it and how much I've prepared. Here..." she trailed off and looked at the roller coaster, "It's not even in the hands of someone I trust."

"But, ultimately, you're still in control of this situation too," he reminded her. "If something were to go wrong, you could still teleport or fly to someplace safe, right?"

She didn't meet his eyes and although her expression didn't change, her sigh was enough for him.

"You can't?"

She shook her head. "You remember that time with _Wicked Scary_?" He nodded. "I'm afraid it might be the same kind of situation."

He cocked his head in confusion and she sighed again, "My powers are fueled by my emotions and my control over my emotions acts like a finger on a trigger." He nodded to show that he was following and so she continued, "Well, I've come to the conclusion that some of my emotions can affect my powers in different ways." One glance at his face and she knew she had to elaborate. How one simple act like trying to ride a rollercoaster could bring on so much explanation she'd never figure out. "Surprise lets them loose, anger tends to explode things, embarrassment makes me phase, but fear..." she shook her head, "well, fear makes them short-circuit, so that they cease entirely or don't work properly at all."

"Like during _Wicked Scary_."

She nodded. "Basically. With _Wicked Scary _there was an entirely different element added that made my powers take on a sort of life of their own, apart from me, but that doesn't have anything to do with this here," she waved away any possible questions he might have about the different element in an effort to keep the explanation somewhat to a minimum. "The point is, I might not be able to get out of it at all if something went wrong," she paused and considered not finishing the truth behind her fear for a split second before speaking it anyway, "but what is worse is I wouldn't be able to help anyone else out of it either."

"But I'd be there," he reminded her.

"You don't have any powers," she countered matter-of-factly.

He smirked, "You think I'd let that stop me from protecting you?"

She glanced at him, clearly surprised. Before she could think of what to say to that, he had _somehow_ managed to take her hand again and motioned towards the ride. "Shall we?"

She walked to the line and stood at the end of it as if in a daze. Oh, she noticed the looks of interest and flirtation (directed at Robin who was oblivious) from the little girls in front of them (who were too young to be flirting or interested in _anyone_) as they made their way through the winding line. She noticed, though she tried not to, the looks of stunned shock and thrill induced adrenaline on the faces of the people as they left the ride. Some part of her brain even wondered where the rest of the team was. And although Robin continued speaking and she heard his voice, she wasn't really listening to what he was saying at all.

She was too busy wondering how the hell he had gotten her to tell him such intimate details about herself.

Well, she knew how he had done it, he had bullied her. But she wasn't one to be easily bullied and she knew that wasn't exactly true. It wasn't Robin the Leader, the man-boy who could make quivering, wimpering cry-babies out of notoriously dangerous criminals with a quelling glance who had convinced her to tell him so much. It was the quiet and calm insistence of Robin, with his gentle smile and steady presence that had prompted her open up, that hadn't taken no for an answer when she wanted to keep all these things to herself and who kept insisting that he wouldn't let her go through something alone despite not knowing what it might be.

It was that blind trust in her, the blind desire to help her that allowed her to speak of things she wouldn't normally even whisper to herself in the dark. It was upon noting that the only thing she was really focusing on was the reassuring warmth of Robin's presence along her right side that took her aback more than anything else that had happened before now.

And in that moment, she couldn't help but see the truth as clearly as if it shone in the bright light of day: She relied on him.

Telling him about her fear was more than telling him about her silly tradition of cooking in her mother's memory. It was more than knowing how she took her tea or how many pajamas she owned. It was more than allowing herself to play with them in the snow. This was telling someone something so intimate, so personal, so private – like sharing a weakness, this was giving him a way to hurt her, a way to frighten her. But even more than that, this was asking him – allowing him – relying on him -- to take that fear away. To hold her hand and lend her his strength.

To admit that her strength wasn't enough. That she couldn't do it alone...didn't _want_ to do it alone.

Before she knew it, they were on the edge of the platform, facing the head of the monster and being motioned on.

"On or off, kids," the disinterested attendant prompted, motioning to the waiting seats.

Robin turned to look at her. If he had looked as if he were teasing her or trying to coax her, she might have found reasons to back out. But he was just waiting - waiting for her to decide whether she really was ready for this.

He must have seen a decision in her eyes that she hadn't even realized she had made because he extended a hand to her and smiled, "Ready, Rae?"

She didn't know if she was ready. Not for the ride and not to put her hand in his and accept what strength he offered her consciously. She didn't know if she was ready, but she did know she couldn't say no. "Probably not," she muttered, but still laid her hand lightly on his and let him help her onto the platform. In a flurry of movement she was seated, strapped down, and the shoulder restraints were secured.

It was being strapped in that made the fear reawaken in the pit of her stomach. She gripped the rubber-wrapped metal and tugged on it, but stopped as soon as Robin's hand touched hers.

"It's alright," he soothed.

She turned to look at him but could only see parts of his face through the shoulder bars, and that limitation brought even more fear to flutter inside her chest. "I can't move," she complained.

He grasped her hand and squeezed comfortingly. "You see up there?" he motioned above them.

She looked at the intricate network of nuts and bolts and nodded.

"I can get us out of this in three minutes, tops, if the need arises...so don't worry, okay?"

She sighed, still looking up, trying to figure out how he might get them out of it, but when he squeezed her hand again, it brought her attention back to him.

"Don't you trust me?" he asked her.

Just as she was about to answer, the platform below them lowered and her legs were suddenly hanging in mid air.

In an effort to keep her mind away from the receding ground she looked forward and was suddenly faced with the wide open space before them. She saw nothing but track and sky and although the fear curled in her stomach, she didn't move her hand from under his. "I trust you," she affirmed just as the beast began to clunk forward.

She tried very hard to find her center and resisted testing her powers in case they had already left her...she preferred not to know.

"You should scream," he said seemingly out of the blue.

Raven blinked in confusion, "Pardon?"

"If you scream, you'll feel better," he assured her.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, but was distracted by the sudden realization of exactly what row they were seated in. She turned to him and glared, "Remind me again why we chose the front row?" she asked as they slowly climbed to the crest in the horizon.

"Well, it _is_ the best seat," he answered her, grinning.

She faced forward again and swallowed, "If I die, I _will_ haunt you," she told him calmly.

He would have answered her, but in the utter silence of that moment when they were about to fall and everyone holds their breath, he was distracted by the tightening of her hand in his. Once The Beast fell, she wouldn't have heard him above the screams of the people around them anyway.

It took her a split second, maybe a little more, but by the time the coaster had made its first loop, Raven was screaming her head off.

It wasn't dignified, it wasn't controlled, and what was worse: it wasn't entirely unavoidable. She didn't feel such all consuming fear that she _had_ to scream (at least, not after the first loop) but when she had screamed, the fear receded and something indescribable took it's place. Something thrilling.

So she kept screaming and when one loop turned into a fast swoop and an upside down careening, she found herself laughing somewhere in the midst of all the screaming.

It was exhilarating.

It felt like flying, only without the concentrated effort and control she needed to lift herself off the ground. It felt like the pure adrenaline rush that she experienced when she was winning a heated battle, but without the worry of keeping herself or her teammates safe.

She'd never felt anything like it.

She was being tossed from side to side, colliding into padding and plastic, but every collision meant another sharp twist in the ride and each one of those wrung a laugh from her.

It was every pleasurable emotion all wrapped up in a few moments.

As the coaster finally slowed to a stop and approached the gangway where they were to disembark, Raven realized that she was clutching Robin's hand, their fingers entwined. Before she could think about it though, the shoulder restraints clicked and started to lift, forcing their hands apart.

Once the restraints lifted entirely and they could look at each other again, flushed, smiling, and brimming with excess adrenaline, Robin smiled at the look of joy on Raven's face. "So?" he asked as they undid their belts.

"Can we go again?"

Robin laughed and extended his hand to her again, helping her stand from the seat and walking with her on unsteady legs down the exit ramp.

"We can," he told her, "but why don't we try some of the others, first?"

She stopped walking, and the people behind them hemmed and hawed as they had to walk around them to get off the ride. Raven noticed, but didn't care. Because of her intense apprehension of this one ride, she had never explored any more of the carnival and was only just starting to realize that there was a whole lot of carnival out there she hadn't even looked at.

"There are more?" she asked, her eyes wide.

He laughed, "Oh yes...many, _many_ more."

She started walking again, tugging on his hand, "Then what are we waiting for?" she asked, leading him down the ramp and back onto the main throng of carnival goers.

Laughing, Robin let her lead him through the crowd.

Once on the main carnival avenue, Raven stopped. "So..." she looked around, "where to?"

He thought about it for a minute, "How about the wooden coaster?"

Her look of expectation faltered, "Wait..._wood_?" she asked, apprehension coating her expression again, "Doesn't wood...well, _rot_?"

He couldn't help but shake his head at her, "Didn't we go through this already?"

"Not about the rotting properties of wood," she countered.

Now, Robin was leading her through the throng in what she could only assume was the direction of the wooden rollercoaster.

"This isn't a rotted rollercoaster, Rae," he told her once they stood in line.

Raven looked at the apparent miles of track and noticed the differences between this one and the one they had just ridden. There were no loops in this one, so that couldn't be so bad...but the seats for the passengers were nothing more than open boxes with nothing more to hold them in than a lap bar. Somehow, the other one looked much more modern and infinitely more secure.

"How do you know it isn't rotted?" she asked, "Look at all that track. Do you think they check it every time it rains?"

"They have to," Robin informed her with that ever-present certainty which was sometimes called obnoxiousness. "It's a regulation."

Raven looked skeptical, to say the least. "What, it's some magical kind of wood that doesn't rot even in the rain?"

Robin laughed and shrugged, "I don't know, but if you want to we can go and talk to the designers of the thing afterward, okay?"

He was still holding onto her hand, whether as assurance that she wouldn't run away or in an ineffectual attempt to comfort her, she wasn't sure.

"How about we go talk to them now?" Raven asked.

He led them forward as the line advanced, pushing at her just a little to get her feet to move, "How about not? We'll lose our place in line," he countered logically. She glared at him, but only half-heartedly. "It was your idea to ride another one anyway, remember?" he reminded her.

"No," she said pointedly, "I wanted to ride The Beast again; you're the one that thought of this antiquated contraption."

He shook his head, "I'm not going to argue the nuances of our conversations, Rae."

"Why not?" she asked. "If we die on this thing, it will be your last chance to contradict me."

He was about to respond when, from behind them, the sound of laughter caught his attention. He turned, half his attention still on what he had meant to say to Raven when he realized that the couple behind them were listening in. Robin raised an eyebrow in mild challenge at them. The man, tall and lanky with an arm around his petite blond girlfriend, smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, man," he said, extending an appeasing hand, "We didn't mean to overhear, but..." he shared an amused glance with his girlfriend.

"We thought we were the only couple that argued like that," she answered, smiling and blushing.

Robin and Raven looked at each other and he felt it the moment her hand meant to let him go, but he held firm and raised both his eyebrows at her in challenge.

Raven knew that Robin hadn't explained to the guy that they weren't dating just to avoid all the useless explanations to total strangers...or at least, that's why she didn't bother to. But that didn't mean she was any happier about being approached by total strangers, even if they did seem friendly enough.

"Our friends don't get us," the young man continued, "'Cause they say we're always fighting, but it's just if there were no arguments, there'd be no fire...no spark...it'd be...well..." he trailed off and hugged the girl to him affectionately.

"Boring," Robin finished, smiling at the man.

The man smiled, glad that they had been understood, "Yeah...exactly."

Robin glanced at Raven who looked put out at suddenly being thrust into the uncomfortable position of _having_ to converse with someone she didn't know. He smiled at her unrepentantly and moved them another few inches forward in line. "I'm Rick," Robin introduced himself, extending the hand that wasn't still holding Raven's to the man.

"Nice meeting you," the man replied, taking Robin's hand and shaking it, "Paul," he offered in return.

"Nina," the smiling blond provided.

Everyone then turned to regard Raven, who looked as if she didn't intend to say a word until Robin squeezed her hand. "Rachel," Raven supplied.

Why was it, Raven wondered, that she always tended to meet people when she was out with Robin?

"Anyway, this one's loads of fun," Nina told Raven, smiling encouragingly. "But I always scream my head off anyway."

Paul laughed along with her. "Yeah, she's got quite a set of pipes on her," he answered, wincing in mock pain.

Nina playfully smacked his arm and he feigned injury.

Robin smiled and Raven was surprised to note it was real. "This is Rachel's first experience with a wooden rollercoaster," he informed them.

Raven glared, but he ignored her.

"Really?" Nina asked, turning wide eyes to Raven.

"Really," Raven answered, turning back to her. "I've led a..._sheltered_ life," she answered.

"I'll say..." Nina chuckled. "But don't worry...it's safe...really...this one's had almost no accidents, like, ever."

"Almost none?" Raven asked, mildly sarcastic. "Did you hear that?" she asked Robin. "So there's _some_ chance we won't die..." She managed to make the statement sound both optimistic and sarcastic at the same time, just one of her many verbal gifts. "Joy."

"You're a riot!" Nina exclaimed, laughing uproariously.

"Yep," Robin agreed, grinning at Nina, "That's my Rachel: a riot."

"You know," Nina whispered conspiratorially, leaning toward Raven. Raven fought off her natural instinct to lean away and remained stock still. "Can I ask you," Nina continued either unmindful or unperturbed by Raven's reaction. "What dye do you use?" she asked shyly.

Raven raised her brows, "Sorry?" she blinked at her, "Dye?"

"For your hair," Nina prodded, "I was just telling Paul that it's the perfect purple of that Teen Titan's hair and my friends would just _freak_ if I managed to get it that color!"

"Yeah, it is rather like _that_ Teen Titan's hair..." Robin said, smiling at her, "You're a fan of hers, aren't you, Rachel?" He asked, playfully. "What was her name?"

"Raven," Paul supplied, "She's hot."

At which point Nina, of course, pinched him. Hard.

"Ow!" he cried, even though it couldn't hurt as much as he made it out to. "What?" he asked, "It's not like I'm ever going to meet her."

Robin doubled over he was laughing so hard.

"Forget it," Nina said huffily, "I was planning on dressing like her for your birthday, but you can forget about that now."

Raven glanced at Robin, her eyes wide with barely concealed shock. _'Dress like her?'_ Raven's eyes seemed to ask. Robin only laughed all the harder.

"Aw, come on, baby..." Paul wheedled.

Just barely repressing a shudder, Raven turned back to the couple behind them. "Go easy on him, Nina," Raven told the blond, "He's just a guy, after all, and if there's a conflict between their head and their _head_ there's a short circuit."

Nina lost it in a fit of giggles, nodding at Raven who had delivered her line with no more inflection than she ever did. "Does Rick have the hots for Raven, too?" Nina motioned towards her hair once more.

"No," Raven answered as Robin grew serious, apparently not liking the conversation being focused on him, "he's more of a Starfire fan." Raven flipped her hair casually. "This was an act of rebellion on my part."

"Oooh," Nina said, "Likes 'em tall and leggy, huh?"

Robin looked about to argue, when his expression did a complete 180, from offended to sweet. "Actually," he answered Nina, putting his arm around Raven's shoulders and bringing her close, "I wouldn't trade Rachel for a dozen super heroines," he told her, staring down into Raven's eyes, "No one can hold a candle to you, my love," he spoke, his lips so close to her ear, his breath stirred her hair.

For a moment, Raven had absolutely no reaction. Unfortunately for her, Robin knew her well enough to know that meant she was only trying very hard to _hide _her reaction. So, as soon as she was able, Raven turned away from him, her expression completely unimpressed and sighed in an act of infinite patience...for Nina and Paul's benefit, of course.

"Oooh, he's good," Nina said, clearly impressed.

"Dude," Paul agreed.

Raven would've responded with a sarcastic retort, but suddenly they were being motioned onto the platform and toward a car.

"Oooh! Have fun!" Nina called to her as she bounded to the car behind them, dragging the gangly Paul after her.

"These don't even have seatbelts," Raven noted, as the padded lap bar lowered automatically.

Robin patted her hand on the bar and smiled at her, "My promise from before still holds, you know," he whispered as the other passengers settled in and the carts clanked on the track. "I won't let anything happen to you."

She would've told him that he didn't have to put on a show for Nina and Paul anymore, but then Nina crooned 'How cute!' to Paul in the car behind them, so she refrained.

As the car began to climb the track and Raven was pushed back in her seat, she admitted that the wooden coaster had at least one benefit over the metal monstrosity: at least here she could see Robin unimpeded. This meant, of course, that there was easier access and she just might manage to kill him before they died fiery and horrible deaths.

And then the ride began and she didn't think of much else.

At some point during the course of the ride, Raven didn't quite know when, she had discovered that it was much easier to hold onto Robin (who was conveniently next to her and had longer arms to reach the lap bar more securely) than it was to fight gravity and momentum in order to hold onto the lap bar herself. She could also wrap her arms most securely around his arm, which was something she couldn't quite do with the lap bar even if she could have reached it.

A part of her realized, of course, that the lap bar was a much more secure something to hold- after all, it would do no good to hold onto Robin if Robin flew out of the car at the same time she did. Still, that part of her couldn't seem to make the rest of her recognize that fact through the screaming and the rush.

And there _was_ a rush.

For what the wooden coaster didn't have in speed or loops like the other one, it made up for in turns and twists and jerks and drops. There were _plenty_ of drops. Every time the coaster dropped and gravity lifted her off the seat against the lap bar she cursed the lack of upper body restraints that the other coaster had, but she couldn't help noticing that being jerked against Robin instead of a padded metal pole was going to be much better for her in the long run. Yes, she might have been a little embarrassed at the fact that she was clutching onto Robin's left arm as if it were her last lifeline in a storm. But he didn't seem to mind nor did he appear uncomfortable, which left her a bit confused, but not really embarrassed at all.

Throughout it all, she never once tried to use her powers, even in the smallest way. So in the end, she still didn't know whether or not her powers had been affected. She could say that she didn't try because she didn't feel the need to or because she forgot, but she knew that wasn't the truth. She knew that the truth was she just wasn't inclined to give up the pretense of normalcy.

"So?" Robin asked as he helped her out of the car, "What's the verdict?"

"It has its benefits," she admitted as they walked down the ramp.

"See?" Nina said joyously as she and Paul stepped behind them, "Fun, huh?"

Raven couldn't help it: she smiled. "Yeah, fun."

Nina grinned and waved as they walked away in the opposite direction down the carnival's main thoroughfare.

"Smiling at strangers," Robin pointed out teasingly as he led her past the food vendors and game booths toward a spot unknown, "Will wonders never cease?"

Raven shrugged, "I think it's the adrenaline," as if to prove her point, she turned her smile on him, "I'd probably laugh at BB's jokes right about now."

He looked pleasantly surprised, "Well, then, what are we waiting for?" He started to hurry through the crowds, "More adrenaline on its way!"

By the time the others finally found them, they had ridden every coaster and just about all the other thrill rides at the carnival.

"Dudes!" Beast Boy called, rushing toward them as they stepped off the platform of the latest ride, "We've been looking everywhere for you!" He turned to Cyborg and Starfire, who were coming up behind him. "Found 'em!"

"We haven't been hiding, _Garfield_," Robin told him, amused at his antics and at using the disguised Titan's civilian name. "We do still have communicators, remember?"

"We _just_ realized we hadn't seen either of you," Cyborg explained as they walked close to them. "We haven't been searching all over." He looked a bit sheepish, "Actually, we kind of were ready to assume that you guys'd gone back home."

"Thanks for missing us," Robin said dryly. In response, Beast Boy looked sheepish, Starfire giggled, and Cyborg grinned.

"Doesn't look like you missed us either," Cyborg pointed out casually, sotto voce so that only Robin heard.

"Can we go now?" Beast Boy interrupted before Robin could say anything.

Raven looked at them seriously, "You ran out of money, didn't you?" she said. Or, rather, she meant to say. Her voice, or what there was of it, was rather rough and harsh and not at all intelligible. She grimaced and swallowed while her friends winced in sympathy.

"What happened to Friend Raven's voice!" Starfire asked concernedly.

Raven swallowed and glared at Robin, who was chuckling and trying unsuccessfully to hide it. "It's nothing Star," she said, clearing her throat in an attempt to speak more coherently. When that attempt was no more successful than the first, she sighed and looked at Robin in defeat.

"She's just hoarse," Robin announced, unconcerned.

"She does not look like a large mammalian quadruped," Starfire said, slightly alarmed.

"No," Raven tried, but stopped and sighed again.

"Not the animal, Kori," Robin explained, still chuckling, "H-o-_a_-r-s-e," he spelled, "it's when your voice gets rough from too much use, like when you scream or talk too much."

"Yeah, but Ray-" Beast Boy stopped himself just in time from saying her Titan name in public when they were trying to go incognito. He tried to cover up his slip by elongating the syllables in her civilian name, "aychel," he finished and exhaled, "Rachel doesn't do either," he pointed out.

Raven shrugged. "Yeah, I wonder how it could've happened?" she asked in her raw whisper.

Cyborg stepped up to her and took her chin in his hand. "Open," he told her in the tone he adopted whenever he was acting as the team medic.

She knew it was pointless to argue so she did as she was bid and "ahh-ed" so he could get a glance at her throat.

He shined a light into her mouth and looked. "Yeah, just a little sore," he confirmed. "You probably shouldn't speak for awhile...maybe until tomorrow." Cyborg let her close her mouth and smiled warmly at her. "We'll get you home, give you some honey and lemon to gargle, and you'll be back to normal in no time."

Raven shrugged and, remembering something, looked at Robin.

"Oh!" he exclaimed as he realized why she was looking at him so pointedly, "Oh, yeah," he nodded and she looked relieved. "We can't go home _just_ yet," he told them, "You guys can leave if you're ready, but we need to head..." he looked around them at the carnival, and finding what he wanted, pointed to their left. "That way."

They all looked in that direction.

"Why that way?" Beast Boy asked first.

"That's where the Funnel Cakes are," he answered as if it should've been obvious.

"Oooh! Funnel Cakes!" Beast Boy said, following them as if he were in a trance.

"Dude, how could we forget about the funnel cakes?" Cyborg asked, walking after them too.

"What are Funnel Cakes?" Starfire asked.

"Dough mostly, with powdered sugar..." he trailed off and shrugged, "they're just very good," Beast Boy answered. "They're warm and gooey and yummy..." he stopped as he thought of something, "Hey, how much are funnel cakes anyway?"

"Probably more than you have, _Garfield_," Cyborg teased.

"Dude!" Beast Boy whined, "C'mon! Lend me some money for Funnel Cakes!"

"No. You still owe me from last month to rent the movie."

"But this is FOOD!" Beast Boy insisted.

"I don't care," Cyborg said, unmoved as they found the funnel cake cart and the smell washed over them.

Beast Boy rolled his eyes, "Aw, _maaaan_," he whined, "How can you deny your friend food?" he asked.

"Easy..." Cyborg pretended to think about it, "No." He grinned, "See? Just like that."

"Cy!" Beast Boy started to whine, but a swift, albeit harmless, smack in the back of the head by Cyborg stopped him from slipping into their Titan names again. The smack actually acted in much the way a well placed kick to a malfunctioning mechanical device fixes the kink and rather than complain about the pain, Beast Boy continued as if his vocal record had merely skipped a groove, "Vic-TOR!" he corrected himself with just as much feeling as he had started. He was about to continue the tirade, when a pale hand reached across Cyborg, offering Beast Boy some money. He followed it to Raven who was looking at him with a look of warning. She didn't need to talk for him to get the picture: 'Take it and shut up.'

Beast Boy grinned and was about to take it, when Robin interrupted.

"Take your money back, Rae, it's my treat," he told her.

Raven shrugged and withdrew her hand, returning her money to the back pocket of her jeans.

"Dude!" Beast Boy exclaimed, "Five more seconds! You couldn't have waited five more seconds until I had that money in my hand?" He shook his head, "I could've played at least three more carnie games with that money!"

Raven looked as if she wished very much that she could speak. So much so that she opened her mouth despite the soreness of her throat.

Cyborg, however, reached out, placing a hand in front of her face and effectively stopping her. "No talking, Rae!" he told her. "Damn..." he stopped and looked around, "I never thought I'd be saying that and live."

Raven snorted and took the funnel cake Robin handed her instead of using her hands to tell them exactly what she thought of them.

"What were you doing that made you lose your voice, anyway, Ra-" Beast Boy caught himself before using the wrong name this time and finished with hardly a noticeable slip, "-chel?" He attacked his funnel cake with a vengeance.

She looked at him, opened her mouth and moved her lips as if she were answering his question.

Cyborg, Robin and Starfire laughed.

"What'd she say?" Beast Boy asked Cyborg.

"Can _you_ read lips?" Cyborg replied. "No? Well, neither can I."

"We went on the coasters," Robin answered, swallowing a bite of doughy goodness.

Beast Boy didn't quite know how to react to Robin's explanation. He blinked in confusion from Robin to Raven, but it was obvious that neither of them was going to explain the deceptively simple sentence any further. He then glanced at Starfire, but she looked no less confused than he did and when he turned finally to Cyborg, it was to find that the cybernetic teen was happily munching on his Funnel Cake, seemingly oblivious to the strange implication of Robin's explanation for Raven's hoarseness.

Beast Boy waited, but no one seemed to be inclined to acknowledge the questions implied by Robin's statement. Was he the only one that thought it was strange that Raven went on a coaster? He was sure they would have all agreed in the assumption that Raven didn't _do_ something as frivolous and fun as coasters. Also, and even more surprising and strange, Raven was hoarse, which comes from screaming. Ergo, Raven must have _screamed_ on the coaster. Raven didn't _scream_, period.

The world could be ending, Raven could be tortured, and Beast Boy still couldn't picture Raven screaming.

So..._somebody_ had to ask...right?

Somebody would say something, eventually.

Robin knew that and Raven knew that. Still, both pretended that they didn't, as if Robin's explanation didn't need any further elaboration.

Robin pretended he hadn't said anything strange because he knew that Raven wouldn't want to explain the fear that prompted her to ride the coaster in the first place. He didn't want to lie to them, but he'd let her tell them whatever she wanted them to know. After all, it wasn't his place to say anything.

So they continued to eat their funnel cakes, sitting around one of the plastic-and-metal picnic tables scattered about the eating area and waited for that inevitable question.

When Starfire opened her mouth to do just that, however, they were interrupted by a bright and cheery voice.

"Rachel! Rick!"

Robin and Raven looked up from their funnel cakes to watch as a perky blond followed by a tall, lanky brunette male approached their table. Since they were all dressed as civilians, they didn't think any fans or enemies of the Titans would be approaching them, but they could never be too careful. They knew Rachel and Richard were Robin and Raven's civilian names, but how could these two know them?

Robin waved, "Hey, Nina. Paul," he greeted.

Raven waved considerably less enthusiastically.

Nina stepped closer, smiled a greeting at Rick and Rachel's friends, and then frowned a bit at Raven, "Hey...you okay?"

Raven shrugged and looked at Robin, who smiled at her, "She's hoarse," Robin answered.

"Ha! I'm not the only one that's a screamer, huh?" Nina asked, laughing and nudging Paul.

Raven shrugged again, but there was a bit of a smile there.

"Anyway," Nina continued, "Sorry to interrupt..." she looked around the others again, "Hi!" she enthused. Then, turning to Robin, she barreled on, "You found your friends, sweet!" Before Robin could make introductions or the others could ask who she was, she continued blithely, "So, yeah, anyway, glad I found you 'cause guess what?" she asked.

Robin raised his eyebrows, "What?"

"They opened up the Matador!" she announced, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Raven's eyes widened and she reached out with her free hand – the one that wasn't holding the remains of her funnel cake - to poke Robin's arm meaningfully.

Robin looked at her, "Are you sure you want to?" he asked her.

Raven nodded.

"Great, let's go!" Nina told them and motioned away. She smacked Paul's arm, "See? Told you we'd find them."

"You're like a bloodhound, sweetie," Paul agreed grinning.

"Are you calling me a dog?" Nina asked.

"No! I'm saying you're...you're..." Paul trailed off and shook his head, "Oh, boy..." he said dejectedly, lowering his face to his hand with a resounding smack.

"Hey!" Beast Boy interrupted, "What's wrong with being a dog?"

Nina looked up to glare at him and Paul shook his head warningly, "Dude, don't even go there," Paul told him dejectedly as he followed Nina back onto the main street intersecting the fair.

Robin laughed and stood up, popping the last bit of funnel cake into his mouth as he waited for Raven to do the same.

"Uh...hello?" Cyborg asked.

"Sorry," Robin said sheepishly, "Those are Nina and Paul, they're a couple we met," he explained. "We've been on most of the same rides and usually at the same time." Robin watched as Raven hurriedly stuffed the last of the funnel cake into her mouth and chewed quickly. He withheld a grin and continued, "Anyway, we were going to ride this one coaster, but they closed it down after we were in line. Something about a check up or whatever. Apparently, they've opened it again, so we're going to go ride it now."

Raven stopped a few steps away from her friends and looked back at them. She extended her arms to her sides, palms up, as if asking, 'Well?' She made a show of motioning with her hands towards the direction they were going, then making it into a 'come on' gesture.

"Oh hell no," Cyborg said, correctly interpreting her meaning, "I'm not riding anything that puts my life in the hands of a computer older than I am."

Raven narrowed her eyes at him.

"No way," he insisted, shaking his head.

Raven looked at Beast Boy and Starfire.

"I did not enjoy the coasting on rollers the last time I rode them," she said, "I do not think my stomachs would appreciate another ride."

"Are you joking?" Beast Boy asked. "Have you _seen_ the Matador?"

Raven blinked and looked at Robin, obviously unsure.

"Oh, don't start that again," Robin said, taking her hand and pulling her away before she could argue.

"No screaming!" Cyborg called after them. "We'll wait for you here!"

"Was Raven actually friendly to the strange blond girl?" Starfire asked after a moment.

An observation that left the remaining Titans at a bit of a loss.

"Nah..." Beast Boy and Cyborg decided simultaneously, as if they had planned it.

There was only so much out-of-character behavior they were willing to admit to being witness to, after all.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

**SPECIAL A/N:** I've re-posted the Moment poll through livejournal this time, since it seems that the other service I used to make the poll was crap and it expired or something. I added "Cy's Say" to the list of options, but haven't added this one...for obvious reasons. (notably, I hadn't written it yet when I made the poll...) Go check it out. Go to my emsscraps journal and look under my Memories for "Moment Poll". (Telling you to do that is MUCH easier than trying to put up a freakin' internet addy onto remember folks I'm doing the Sidestories for Part VIII: _Puppies, Penguins, and Bunnies _(I'm up to Sidestory #9, I think...about three more to go? Something like that. Too lazy to look it up right now).

Also, remember **_Kysra_** has some awesome art in her dA account, a small portion of which are fanart for _Moments_.

Also, remember **_Absentia_** has done a tribute of sorts to _Moments_ that she's called, _"Between Moments"_. They're REALLY good, you should go check them out and tell her what a good writer she is, so hopefully, she'll update her other stories like _"Aphrodite's Kiss"_ and _"Awkward Entanglements"_.

**Totally Irrelevant Note:** I'm in LUST with Nickelback's song, **_Far Away_**. It's inspiring a new story which **_Kysra_** gave me an image for. (And if you like this bit of irrelevancy, then check out my 'emsscraps'. It's chocked full of crap like this.)


	14. XIV: Wishes, I

**A/N:** Whew! Wow. What a run! I feel like I've run a marathon to get this baby out! To make up for lost time, this baby has 103 pages in word. You've all been so patient, I hope you guys enjoy it.

**Special Thanks:** To _**GuardianKysra**_, _**newpoint,**_ and _**Aileene25**_ who served as my betas this time around. A great big HUG to _**Guyute24**_ who will be sending me out some beta-work once she gets un-mired down from RL issues weighing her down, so I'll probably be reposting this in a few weeks time, but I wanted to get it out to you guys before I leave out of the country.

**General Thanks:** Look for them on my emsscraps journal after May 14th, kay? There's a lot of ya (yey!) but I can't do them all tonight...

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_**It Only Takes A Moment  
**__**Part XIV: Wishes, I  
**__**by Em**_

"_When you wish upon a star / your dreams come true."  
_- When You Wish Upon A Star, _from _Pinocchio

The 'Happiest Place on Earth' looked very much like a dozen other small towns anywhere in the country and not very much like any sort of kingdom at all, magic or otherwise. As a matter of fact, Raven might have very well believed she was stuck dead center of Anywhere, U.S.A. Why, if the overwhelming flux of people, the fresh faced, starry eyed kids, the harried adults following them around, the strange people in costumes, and the plastic and plaster 189 foot castle at the end of the road were not present, she might have believed it.

Actually, Raven was of a mind that no one _really_ believed this was a magical kingdom at all. She had read and heard of many magical kingdoms and this place had none of the signs of either.

"You've got that face."

Raven frowned at the speaker. "What face?" she asked, "I only have the one."

"The 'this smells as fishy as Gar's room' kind of face," Robin answered, trying very hard not to smile at her obvious confusion.

She looked offended at being caught. "Well, it does," she defended. "Why call a place a _magic_ kingdom if it is neither magical nor a kingdom?"

Robin did laugh then. "You're just upset that you couldn't refuse to come once Kori gave you the puppy dog look." He tsked, "You're getting weak, Rae...very weak."

Raven recognized it as teasing of course, but that didn't mean she liked it. "No one would believe this place to be magical--" she continued to insist on her argument. She stopped however, as Starfire giggled at the store front window where a period dressed man was kneading bread.

"Oh!" Star clapped, looking at them. "This is truly a magical place!" she exclaimed, overjoyed.

Raven frowned and crossed her arms. "Alright," she allowed, "So, no one other than Kori or children would believe--"

"C'mon! Let's get the magic started!" Beast Boy exclaimed happily.

Raven, sighing, dropped her argument.

Robin laughed, "The magic of this place is in the hearts of the people who visit it."

Raven's only response was to tighten her lips and follow where Beast Boy led.

Robin watched her go with a wry smile. _'Raven, meet the Happiest Place on Earth,'_ he thought, _'Happiest Place on Earth...meet your match.'_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Mainstreet, USA  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"The monarch here is much beloved, is he not?" Starfire asked as they made their way toward the bronze statue of Mickey and Walt at the end of Main Street. "His image is everywhere and children line up to take their photograph with him."

Cyborg looked at Robin and Robin looked at Starfire and was about to start the arduous explanation process of who Mickey Mouse actually was and why he was not a monarch and this was a 'kingdom' but not really when Raven spoke.

"Yes, he is," she answered stoically.

Starfire beamed at her and looked up at the statue of Mickey and Walt with warmth in her features. Cyborg grinned at Raven and snapped a picture of Starfire looking up at the statue. When Robin came up next to Raven, Beast Boy was posing with Starfire and Cyborg was busy telling Beast Boy not to hang off the statue like a monkey or they would be thrown out.

He didn't have to say a word.

"Magic," Raven answered.

She didn't have to say anymore.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Well, lookit what a sour puss we have here!" the old man in the rag time get up, complete with straw hat and colorful stripped vest, exclaimed as he approached.

The rest of the team winced in expectation of Raven's response. She, of course, merely met the man's eyes with calm indifference.

"We can't be having a frown like that on a beautiful day like this, can we?" he asked. When Raven continued to stare, he took off his hat and scratched at the remaining wisps of white hair on his aged, balding head. "Say..." he started conversationally, sidling up next to Raven conspiratorially. "You ever heard of this Beethoven fellar?" he asked. "One what makes music?"

Raven sighed and figuring she couldn't get out of it, nodded.

He grinned as if she had offered him the world. "Did you know he used to breed chickens?" he asked in amazement.

Raven raised a brow.

The man took that as enough invitation to continue. "He did, but you know, he had to get rid of 'em all; they nearly drove him nuts."

Raven still couldn't figure why this man was talking to her and about Beethoven's chickens of all things. Weren't they just waiting to take their picture in front of the big fake castle? Couldn't they just wait in peace?

"Do you want to know why?"

Raven was disinclined to answer.

But Beast Boy wasn't. "Why?" he asked.

The old man grinned and elbowed Beast Boy, "Because they kept saying, 'Bach! Bach! Bach!' all the time!" he said, laughing uproariously at his own corny joke.

Beast Boy, of course, collapsed in a fit of laughter.

The old man watched Beast Boy for a moment before turning back to Raven. "Say, you know what this kid reminds me of?"

Raven looked at him, but didn't answer.

The man turned to Robin, "You sure she's alive, kid? This is some of my best stuff!" he asked.

Robin smiled, nodded, and approached Raven, elbowing her none too gently, "He's just trying to be nice, the least you can do is try to be friendly back."

Raven sighed, "What does Gar remind you of?" she asked.

The man smiled brightly. "The pig that wanted to be an actor."

Raven glanced at Robin with something like pleading in her eyes, but he was unsympathetic and motioned for her to say something, so she rolled her eyes and sighed again. "A pig that wanted to be an actor?" she asked in a stilted deadpan. "Why would a pig want to be an actor?"

The man smiled, "Because he was such a ham!"

Beast Boy slapped his knees, erupting into laughter once again. "Oh, that's a good one!" he said between guffaws.

"I like this kid," the man said to Raven in a stage whisper.

"You like him, you can have him," Raven deadpanned.

The man looked at her in surprise, his eyes open wide and a grin slowly spreading across his face as Cyborg and Robin chuckled. "Heh, look at this, suddenly everyone's a comedian," he said to the air.

In response and in a show of good faith to be friendlier and enjoy the locale, Raven thought about it for a moment, and then actually smiled.

Marty smiled at her tenderly. "That's more like it!"

Beast Boy, meanwhile, had thought something through. "Wait a minute...who's Bach?"

Raven exhaled and just barely resisted lowering her face into her palm.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Haven't we taken _enough_ pictures?" Beast Boy whined, "I want to get to the rides _before_ the park closes, you know!"

Robin chuckled. "I hate to say this, but I'm going to have to agree with Gar."

Beast Boy grinned, then, when he realized the subtle jab, he frowned and pointed at Robin, "Hey!"

"Listen here, green bean," Cyborg, now Victor Stone, pointed at Beast Boy, "Jump City paid for this wonderful vacation as a way of saying thanks, how are we going to show that we had fun and how much we appreciate it if we don't take pictures?"

"Just be glad he hasn't started in with the video camera," Raven offered.

Cyborg threw an arm around Raven's shoulders and grinned brilliantly at her, "Oh, don't have to! I installed a video camera which is picking up everything even as we speak!" he said excitedly. His grin grew, if at all possible, even brighter, "Think of it as CY-TV!"

Raven sighed, "Of course you did."

Robin laughed, but Beast Boy looked very worried.

"You mean you've been recording this whole time?" Beast Boy squeaked.

Cyborg nodded. "Sure have."

"Even last night? In the room?"

"You mean your impromptu rendition of George Michael's classic, _Faith,_ to the mirror?" Cyborg asked innocently.

Robin was chuckling too hard to make a comment and Raven raised a brow. "I knew we couldn't hear the birds on the lake from our room," Raven mused.

Starfire's brows knit in confusion. "You mean we did not hear the lovely honking of the geese on the lake?"

"Dude!" Beast Boy exclaimed to Cyborg. "Delete that!"

Cyborg grinned and shook his head, "No way."

"Yo, that's not funny!" Beast boy insisted.

"Oh trust me, it is!" Cyborg argued gleefully.

"So!" Robin spoke up before Cyborg and Beast Boy's argument could fully develop, "Where shall we go first?" He stood in the middle of the group and opened up the glossy park map.

"Oh, may we go to the land of the Fantasy with the Princesses and the lovely colors?"

"Adventureland!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "That's where all the fast rides are!"

"Tomorrowland, dude!" Cyborg offered. "They've got all things futuristic there!"

"This is going to be a long day," Raven offered monotonously.

"Okay," Robin said, taking up his role as mediator once again. "How about we start here," he pointed on the map where Adventureland was, "since its entrance is right over there," he pointed to their left where the log bridge with the sign over it proclaiming Advertureland was visible, "and work our way around?"

"Yeah, I guess I can live with that," Cyborg allowed.

"Woohoo! Disney here we come!" Beast Boy exclaimed, sprinting off.

"Yo!" Cyborg called out. "Wait up, you monkey!"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Adventureland: Jungle Cruise  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Why couldn't we get one of those 'fast passes' for this ride, too?"

"Because we decided we wanted to get a fast pass for _Pirates of the Caribbean_," Robin answered patiently.

"But why couldn't we get one for this ride, _too_?" Beast Boy whined.

"Because we already have one for _Pirates_," Robin answered, slightly less patiently.

"But why couldn't we get one for both?" Beast Boy insisted. "It's not like the times would overlap or anything!"

"Because you can't have two at a time, and if you paid attention when we explained things the first time you'd know that," Raven answered sharply.

Beast Boy made a face and raised his hands in mock surrender, "Well, excuuuuuuse me," he intoned, rolling his eyes and turning to Cyborg, "Boy, someone's grumpy."

"I am NOT..." she paused and exhaled, realizing that arguing the point her teammates had decided to associate her with a cantankerous dwarf _again_ would be pointless. She looked instead at the line of people behind her, seriously considering for the fifth time in the last half hour they had been in line, whether or not she could get out of the line and wait for them at the exit without anyone noticing. Well, she didn't think she could make it all the way to the exit without anyone noticing, but maybe far enough away?

"Don't even think about it," Robin warned, correctly guessing the subject of her thoughts. "We all suffer through this together."

The line in front of them moved a few paces and they walked along, only to stop two inches from where they were previously. "I gotta agree with Grumpy over here," Cyborg mused, motioning to Raven who glared at him but was ignored. "Why are we wasting our time in a line for _this_ ride anyway?"

"Cause it's the Jungle Cruise!" Beast Boy insisted as if that should have been answer enough. It obviously wasn't.

"Because we're here to do all the rides and shows that everyone wants to do," Robin answered apologetically. "That's what we agreed on, remember?"

Cyborg nodded. "You're right." They moved another few paces. "At least the line moves fast," he added thoughtfully.

"Even if it is long."

But Cyborg wasn't listening to Robin anymore since his cursory inspection of the line had brought something to his attention. It seemed to him two of the guys, in their late teens to early twenties, standing in the line about ten people ahead, were staring right at them. Not only were they staring, but as the line moved the two guys did their best to keep their gazes right in the Titans' direction.

Cyborg's first reaction was to look down at himself, thinking that perhaps his or Beast Boy's appearance modifiers had glitched, but they looked as human as anyone else did. When they moved again and the guys went out of their way to keep one particular spot in sight, Cyborg concluded that the two guys weren't staring at _them_ but at the girls.

At _his_ girls.

'_What the hell?'_ he thought. Wasn't this supposed to be a family place? Did it particularly cater to horny guys?

Before Cyborg could do anything about catching the two guys' attention or maneuvering his way into blocking the girls from their sight, Raven must have felt their stare on her because she glanced up and met the eyes of the tall blond one. Having finally gained her attention, he grinned as brightly as he could right into her eyes. Raven blinked, frowned, and looked around herself.

Cyborg almost laughed. And when he noticed Robin noticing Raven's confusion, he did chuckle, but just a little and only in anticipation. Robin did not disappoint and although Cyborg would have been a whole lot less subtle than Robin's casual shifting of position which placed him directly in Raven's personal space, one glance at the boy who had dared to smile at Raven and Cyborg was satisfied that Robin's actions were enough.

The Boy Wonder surprised him, however, by taking it one step further, using his other hand to pluck a couple kernels of popcorn from the bag she held. Cyborg turned to glance at the boys and his small smile turned into a full-out grin. _'Alright, Rob-o! Score one for the home team!' _he cheered internally,

The rest of their friends, of course, were blissfully ignorant, even as Raven unconsciously leaned in his direction, and whispered, "I think that boy is staring at me."

Robin stole another couple kernels from the popcorn bag and raised his eyebrows. "Who?" he asked, as if he didn't already know.

Raven sighed. "The one over --" she paused, raising her finger and pointing in the direction of the two boys somewhat down the line. Robin reacted quickly, however, and took her hand before she could complete the pointing action. She glared at him as he brought her hand down in front of them but he only smiled at her sweetly, letting her go.

"Don't point."

Raven shrugged. "Whatever," she said, "The guy a few people in front of us in the line with the blonde hair and the Led Zeplin t-shirt."

Cyborg scoffed. "Maybe because he's a pervert," he offered, shooting said named pervert a warning glare. He turned back to Raven, "And you're practically giving him a free show with the way you're dressed."

Raven glanced down at her shorts and halter top, but at seeing that there was nothing showing that shouldn't be showing, she raised confused eyes to Cyborg, "Kori said this is what we had to wear to come to the theme parks," she defended.

Cyborg rolled his eyes while Starfire was looked down at her own short and tank top ensemble.

"It is what the lady who makes the sales at the mall of shopping said would be appropriate," Starfire looked worriedly down at herself and frowned, "Is it not appropriate?"

"No."

"No."

"Yes."

Robin and Cyborg glared at Beast Boy as the only dissenting voice but Beast Boy was oblivious.

Raven narrowed her eyes at Robin and Cyborg, figuring that something was going on she wasn't getting. "Everyone here seems to be wearing more or less the same style of clothing, so I do not think it is because we're not dressed appropriately that they're staring," she surmised. She looked around herself and back to her friends. "I think they might recognize us."

"That's not it," Robin argued seriously.

"How can you be so sure?" Raven asked.

"It isn't," he insisted.

Raven blinked in the face of such non-compromising certainty. "But how can--?"

Beast Boy rolled his eyes and interrupted before she could finish her question, "What, the dude that looks like he's high on crack?" When Raven nodded he scoffed, "Tch, he's just checking you guys out."

Before Raven could argue the validity of such an observation, however, Starfire had eeped in alarm. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "Checking us out of what?" she asked Beast Boy, glancing at Raven for her answer, "Certainly not of the kingdom itself!"

Raven glared at Beast Boy as if saying, '_Now_ see what you've done?' before awkwardly patting Starfire's arm. "Checking out as a colloquialism to mean he is interested in us sexually and is analyzing our body types for form and function."

"Oh, I see!" Starfire exhaled in relief and smiled.

"No!" Cyborg exclaimed. "There will be no seeing of any kind. There will be no checking out of any kind, forform _or _function, and there will _certainly_ be absolutely no smiling!"

Raven just barely restrained from smiling and managed to maintain an emotionless facade only thanks to years of training. "No smiling in the Happiest Place on Earth, Victor?"

Cyborg looked confused for a moment. "Well, that's not...that is to say you can -- just not at--"

"Easy there, Vic," Robin patted his shoulder, grinning. "Before you blow a fuse."

"Woohoo!" Beast Boy jumped in excitement. "We're here!"

The rest of the team realized for the first time that they were next in line and that the boat they were to ride (Irrawaddy Irma by name) was at the dock and waiting for them to board. They were pleasantly surprised that the time in the line had gone by so quickly.

"Oh, look! It is the friend who is doing the checking out!" she exclaimed to Raven, pointing to the blonde in the Led Zeplin shirt who just happened to be sitting in Irrawaddy Irma near the front.

"We need a bigger boat," Robin mumbled under his breath.

Cyborg scoffed his agreement.

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__Frontierland: Splash Mountain  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

It would be easy to think that Cyborg was the very picture of happy-go-lucky tourist. What with the Stone facade firmly in place and Bermuda shorts, short sleeved cotton shirt and flip-flips he was wearing no one would ever suspect that every single move Cyborg made was carefully calculated.

Cyborg did, however, have a plan.

He was tired of watching and waiting from the sidelines. So, okay, he had sworn he wouldn't meddle and he was fairly certain that Robin might have a plan of his own. Still, Cyborg had decided that a paid vacation to Walt Disney World was the perfect excuse to accelerate whatever plan the Boy Wonder might have come up with. It wasn't like _his _plan was working very well...or, at least, it wasn't working _very _expeditiously. If left up to their own devices, Cyborg was certain Robin and Raven wouldn't be getting together until they were at _least _fifty, and that was something Cyborg just couldn't let happen.

After all, what would happen to Cyborg's hopes for little nieces and nephews to spoil if he did?

No. Cyborg had to take action. But he couldn't make it obvious. He knew that without a doubt. And when dealing with two (usually) observant people the likes of Robin and Raven, he had to plan out for every contingency—every possibility.

Hence, The Plan.

Cyborg had started The Plan by researching which of all the rides in the theme parks they were going to ride were two seaters. With uneven numbers as they had, it'd only be natural that two people end up sitting together regardless of whether it was a two seater ride or not, but the two seaters were especially tricky being as how someone would be, by necessity, left to ride by themselves.

The rides they had been on until that point had not been a problem. Both _The Jungle Cruise_ and _Pirates of the Caribbean_ used bench style seating, so the whole group of them could take up a full row and they'd be fine. No one had to pick anyone else to ride with and no one had to be left to ride alone.

This next ride, however, was a two seater. The whole group of them could go in the same boat, but they'd have to sit two by two and the trick would be how to make certain that Raven and Robin sat together while he was left alone in the back.

Knowing Raven as he knew her, Cyborg was certain that these two seater rides were the kinds of rides where Raven would attempt to either go by herself or to not ride at all. He knew she did it to prevent anyone else from having to ride by themselves, but he couldn't have that, despite feeling proud of her generous and selfless nature.

So the second course of business was to figure out a plan to thwart Raven's attempts to be the lone rider. He couldn't exactly offer to be the lone rider all the time, because that would be suspicious and he couldn't shove those two together either, because as oblivious as they seemed to be (well, as _she_ seemed to be mostly) to his subtle attempts at facilitation, if he started handing out seating charts, it would be pretty obvious what The Plan was.

So...he had to be shrewd. Subtle. Sly.

No matter how much he wanted to curse Beast Boy's incessant movement which inevitably had him standing equal parts between Robin and Raven and between any grouping of the others, he couldn't. And not only because that would be a rather suspicious thing to do, either. He had to be extra special to not only keep the birds which were the subject of The Plan from figuring it out, but also the others. It wouldn't do to have Starfire or Beast Boy gum up the works. Especially during this incredibly fragile time.

Still, that didn't mean he didn't think about how much he would _love _to just handcuff those two together so they couldn't even think about standing apart. It would make his job so much easier.

When Beast Boy leaned against the banister solidly between Robin and Raven and seemed to settle there to actually talk to Raven about something, Cyborg looked at how far away from the entrance of the ride they were and realized he didn't have much time to get the younger boy out of the way. And, considering his time restraints, and that he wasn't the best at coming up with lies and excuses, he really had no idea what to tell Beast Boy to get him out of the way.

"Garfield, you're blocking my view," Cyborg announced, trying not to wince as he spoke. He realized how ridiculous his excuse was even before the others looked at him incredulously, but he was running low and pressed for time.

"_I'm_ blocking _your_ view?" Beast Boy asked. "Of what?" he wondered, "the floor?"

Cyborg looked around the fake cavern-like enclosure the line had taken them through and within which they were currently stopped waiting to walk another few inches, and he searched for something interesting he wanted to see, but he couldn't find a damn thing.

Beast Boy shifted on his feet and seemingly lost interest in Cyborg's possible excuse. "Isn't this supposed to be the _fast_ lane?" Beast Boy whined instead.

Cyborg thanked nature for Beast Boy's short attention span and continued to plot.

And just when Cyborg had come up with a rather complicated, intricate scheme involving the two-step and a half shuffle, Raven saved him the trouble by moving Beast Boy aside and reaching for the backpack Robin was currently carrying. He turned to give her access never once breaking in his explanation to Starfire about the wonders of plastic and how it could look exactly like rock. Raven emerged from her scavenging with the bag of popcorn they had bought before the _Jungle Cruise, _and she handed it to Beast Boy with a warning glare.

"Eat and be silent," she commanded imperiously.

"Sweet!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Popcorn! I'd forgotten we kept it."

When he attacked the contents of the bag with a satisfied vengeance and there was respite from his whining, Cyborg grinned broadly at her. "Good thinking, Rae. I thought I was going to have to stuff his mouth with a sock."

Raven frowned, "If you had told me that was your plan, I never would've wasted the popcorn."

Cy laughed. "I think we need to get our communication in order, or develop a plan of attack for future Garfield Whining Moments, so this sort of thing doesn't happen again."

Raven smirked, "How about you just tackle him the next time he starts whining?" she offered. "Or, I could always stick the sock in his mouth? We shouldn't completely dismiss the 'sock-in-the-mouth' idea."

"Hey!" Beast Boy exclaimed around a mouthful of popcorn. "I heard that!"

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Gar," Robin said, entering the conversation as Starfire turned to look at the walls and delighting in her newly acquired insider knowledge about the possibilities of plastic.

Beast Boy closed his mouth, chewing furiously and pointing between Cyborg and Raven as if Robin could actually understand what his wildly flailing hands were supposed to mean.

"Yeah, I'm sure they were cruel and unfeeling toward you and they won't do it again, right, guys?" Robin guessed.

Raven shrugged but Cyborg looked unrepentant. "If he keeps whining, I make no promises."

Beast Boy finished swallowing and stuck his tongue out at Cyborg, who did the only logical thing and reached out to grab it. Beast Boy, of course, tucked it back inside his mouth and smirked at Cyborg. The others ignored this display of immaturity, seeing as how it was quite common between the two.

Meanwhile, the line started moving and the whole lot of them shuffled forward a few steps before stopping again.

"Man!" Beast Boy whined. "This sooo does not fit my definition of fast!"

Raven exhaled, very obviously filling herself to the brim with patience, but when Beast Boy appeared, by his countenance, about ready to begin to whine again, she decided she'd had enough.

"Look, Garfield," Raven said, in mock excitement, "isn't that Goofy?"

"Where?!" Beast Boy turned his head this way and that, looking for signs of the tall green hat and the floppy ears. "Where?"

"Goofy's not here," Robin said, glancing at Raven warningly.

Raven shrugged. "If you'd have let him go looking, we'd have a few moments of peace, at least," she explained.

"That's not funny!" Beast Boy said. "Getting my hopes up..."

"Oh look!" Cyborg pointed to the space just around the curve from them in a clear attempt to change the subject, "We're almost there!"

The rest of the team craned to see the loading and unloading dock of the ride, bustling with activity.

"So," Beast Boy spoke, before the others could comment, "Who's riding with who?"

Cyborg felt himself go cold as he watched the others realize they'd have to pick who to sit with. He could have happily killed Beast Boy. He watched as his carefully crafted plan of making certain Robin and Raven were standing next to each other and would just, unthinkingly, end up sitting together flew out the proverbial window.

"I call dibs on the back," Beast Boy declared as they thought.

"Why would you wish to sit in the back?" Starfire asked.

"You get way more thrill on this kind of ride from the back."

"Oh?" she wondered, grinning, "Then may I call the dibs for the back as well?" she asked. "I would like to experience the hurry."

"The rush," Beast Boy corrected.

Starfire grinned.

"Well, I don't mind," Beast Boy said.

"Fine by me," Robin confirmed, "I prefer the front anyway."

"Well, that's settled then," Cyborg decided, clapping his hands decisively.

"It is?" Raven asked when Cyborg looked at her expectantly.

"Alright, Rae," Cyborg conceded, doing a decent job of not showing how ecstatic he was at how perfect it all turned out. Raven looked at him as if she didn't know what he was referring to because, of course, she didn't. "You can ride with Rick in the front," he explained magnanimously.

"I never said—" Raven started, only to be interrupted by Cyborg's hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright, I understand," he assured her. "I know you've never ridden this ride before, so of course, you should get the thrill of the front."

"You've never ridden this ride either--"

"I don't mind, really," Cyborg continued, as if she hadn't spoken. "We can always ride it again later and I'll take the front and you and Rick can take the back then."

Raven realized she wouldn't be getting a word in edge-wise and closed her mouth with an audible snap, turning instead to look at Robin for support on her 'Cyborg is nuts' theory.

Robin, however, was smiling in that way that told her he knew exactly why she was looking at him, but still wouldn't be backing her up. So, when he decided to pat Cyborg on the shoulder instead, she wasn't surprised and only exhaled in frustration.

"You really are a good friend, Vic," Robin said.

Cyborg grinned from ear to ear and _tried_ to look humble. "I know, man, I know."

Raven, for her part, decided to remain silent.

Which was a good thing, since the line moved again and the ride attendant was asking them how many in their party.

"Rows 1, 2, 3, and 4," the bright eyed girl told them.

They went to their respective rows, Beast Boy jumping in place from excitement, Starfire chatting up the people in the row adjacent to theirs, Cyborg calmly looking at the tracks of the ride as if trying to figure out how they were put together, and Raven frowning at Robin who was looking at her with that smile on his face that told her he had picked up on exactly how steamrolled she had been and wasn't about to let her live it down anytime soon.

"You could've helped me, you know," she said pointedly.

"Why should I?" he asked, shrugging. "I wanted the front."

"I never said I wanted the front, though," she pointed out.

"Aw, c'mon," Robin cajoled. "Have you already forgotten how much you love thrill rides?" he reminded meaningfully.

Raven knew she couldn't argue, so she frowned and crossed her arms. "No," she admitted, "But there doesn't seem to be much '_thrill_' to this ride."

Robin looked at her, wide-eyed. "Don't tell me you don't know what this ride is?"

Raven raised her brows and looked at him expectantly. "It's one of those storybook rides, isn't it? Like the pirate one we just did."

Robin laughed. "Well..." he trailed off and almost nodded, but ended up shaking his head. "Not really."

Raven's expression turned decidedly wary, "What do you mean, 'not really', Richard?"

Robin drew close and, hands on her shoulders, turned her to face the unloading area of the dock where the log-like boats were approaching after having been through the ride. He waited a moment for her to take in the looks of adrenaline-high amusement on the faces of the disembarking riders, as well as the slight dripping-dampness before speaking in her ear, "This ride isn't called _Splash_ Mountain for nothing, Rae."

When their boat pulled up and the gate before them opened, Beast Boy ran into his seat, Starfire had to be reminded by Cyborg not to fly in her joy with a well placed hand on her shoulder and Cyborg calmly sat right in the middle of his seat. Robin stepped onto the front seat, turning back to extend a hand to Raven.

Raven accepted the hand and let him help her onto the boat before it occurred to her that she hadn't needed his help to get in. So what was a little water? This wasn't a rollercoaster and she didn't need his assurances that he'd protect her.

Cyborg, meanwhile, tried not to giggle like a fangirl. Especially when the ride attendant winked at Raven as the boat moved passed her, "Best hold on ta yer beau, darlin'," she drawled, in character, "'Tis a steep drop yer headin' fer."

"He is _not_ my --" Raven started, only to stop as the ride jarred forward onto the watery track and she jerked in response. It was about that time when she realized there ride was possessed of no restraints. Whatsoever.

"Is this normal?" she asked, looking around at the seat.

"What?" Robin asked as they entered the storybook part of the ride.

"The lack of restraints."

"Is Rae freaking out already?" Beast Boy called from the back. Raven turned around to glare at him.

"It's normal," Robin confirmed.

"Oh, look, Braer Rabbit is getting away!" Cyborg said loudly, not really following the story.

"He is quite clever is he not?" Star asked -- obviously she _was_ following the story.

"Just bring on the drop-baby!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

Robin looked at Raven and could tell just what she was thinking, so he leaned over and, smiling, whispered, "You can hold on to me if you're scared."

She narrowed her eyes at him and slid away from him on the seat, frowning when her thigh encountered water.

'_Smooth, Boy Wonder,_' Cy thought sarcastically. '_Real smooth._'

_xxxxxxxxxxxx_

Later, Beast Boy laughed at the picture taken as they dropped, showing their purchased copy to Raven. "You were so ready to pee yourself, weren't you?" Beast Boy exclaimed as they walked away from the gift shop.

Raven took the picture from his hand and glanced at the image of them all in the boat, focusing particularly on the way her hair flew behind her, the look of naked shock on her face at the realization that she was dropping and eventually, at how she _had_ clutched at Robin as soon as gravity lifted her slightly off her seat and said nothing.

"Too bad they didn't take a picture right after the drop," Robin mused, glancing at the picture over Raven's shoulder.

"Why?" Beast Boy asked, taking the picture back. "This is the keeper right here."

Robin raised a brow at him. "Do you have any idea how many people would pay good money to have a picture of the goofy grin Rae got after the drop?" Robin asked.

"You manage to get a picture of that, Boy Wonder," she drawled, wiping at her moist left side, clearly unconcerned, "And you'll probably deserve what you get."

Robin did not fail to notice the subtle vagueness in that promise.

"Oh, dudes!" Beast Boy exclaimed, "Wait time's only 20 minutes for _Big Thunder Railroad_!" he put the picture away and started to hurry toward the entrance to the ride. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" he hurried them, pushing at Cyborg's back to get them moving. When Cyborg didn't budge, he stopped trying and grabbed at Starfire's hand instead. "C'mon, Kori, let's leave these slow pokes behind," he said, leading Star some distance ahead of them.

Cyborg watched Robin and Raven walk casually behind Beast Boy and Star and sighed. Although he did notice how Raven had clutched at Robin's arm when they started to go down, she only released him as if nothing were different as soon as the ride was over, and the way they were walking now led him to wonder whether or not she was any closer to realizing that Robin was more than an anchoring post, despite all his scheming.

_'This,_' Cyborg thought, inadvertently echoing Raven's earlier comment, _'is going to be a long day.'_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Lunch?  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Next up should probably be _The Haunted Mansion_," Cyborg said, looking at the map.

"Dude, I'm _hungry_!" Beast Boy interjected.

"Yes, I could use some nourishment as well," Starfire added. "They do have mustard here, yes?" she asked, suddenly worried.

"I hate to agree with him," Raven started, "But it is lunchtime."

Robin looked at her, as did Cyborg and Starfire. Raven, agreeing with Beast Boy? And offering up that agreement? Something couldn't be right.

"Well," Cyborg said, coming out of his surprise and looking back at the map. "We could eat at the Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe, which is on the way to Liberty Square where the _Haunted Mansion_ is," he offered, pointing on the map.

The others crowded around him to look over his shoulder, despite the fact that they had their own maps.

"Funnel cakes," Raven's finger found the Sleepy Hollow listing inside Liberty Square.

"Oh, really?" Robin asked, craning his neck to see the listing.

"_Food,"_ Cyborg said pointedly. "Not snacks." He looked at the map, "We could do this Columbia Harbor House?" he asked. "Chowder and baskets sounds promising."

"Are you just looking for places that might have the biggest servings?" Raven asked dryly.

"You sound surprised," Cyborg said simply.

"Ewww...fish? Chicken? Chowder?" Beast Boy asked. "There's nothing I could eat there."

"I'm sure they have some sort of vegetarian fare, Gar," Robin tried to mollify him.

"Pizza!" Beast Boy said, his eye catching on the familiar word. He pointed at the map on the pink area. "Pinocchio's Village!" he said triumphantly. "Let's go there."

"Look how far that is," Robin said, showing the distance on the map.

"Plus, it's in the forbidden area..." Cyborg said sotto voce. "Once _you know who_ enters that land, we'll never get her out."

Beast Boy winced as he recognized the truth, but it was too late. Starfire had found the listing for Pinocchio's Village Haus on Cyborg's map.

"Oh, is this not the land of the princesses and the lovely things?" Star asked, recognizing the names of the nearby rides. "I wish to have the nourishment in this place as well!" she enthused. She looked at her friends hopefully.

"But what about the _Haunted Mansion_ back in Liberty Square?" Robin asked.

"I suppose we could hold off on lunch until after we do the _Haunted Mansion_?" Cyborg thought out.

"But I'm _starving!"_ Beast Boy whined.

"You know," Cyborg started. "You're more spoiled than some of the kids we've seen around here, you realize that, don't you?"

Beast Boy grinned, unrepentant.

"We could always come back around to Liberty Square," Raven offered. The others looked at her. "It's not like it's _really_ that far, anyway. Nothing in this place is too far from any other place."

Starfire squealed and hugged Raven tightly. Robin smiled at her. "We should stop by there and grab a fast pass for the Mansion when we walk by," Robin said. "Go to lunch at Pinocchio's place and that'll let us make some time before we go back for our time on the passes."

"Great idea, Rick!" Cyborg enthused. He folded up the map and clapped, "Food! Here we come!"

Starfire giggled and jumped excitedly. Unfortunately for Raven, she was still hugging her as she did so, and Raven was left with no choice but to jump with her or risk losing a limb or her head.

Cyborg, of course, snapped a picture.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Fantasyland: It's A Small World  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"I knew we'd get caught," Cyborg groused as they made the relatively fast moving line. "No way we'd come all the way to Kori-Heaven and get out without riding at least one ride."

"Not to mention we sat down next to the glass wall that overlooked the ride," Raven pointed out.

"Well, the wait time's low," Robin offered apologetically. "And even after lunch, we do still have some time before we have to be back in Liberty Square for the _Haunted Mansion_."

"Don't remind me about lunch," Cyborg sighed. "I'm _still_ hungry."

"You ate two of the personal pizzas with everything except anchovies," Raven enumerated, "Three of the real boy sandwiches with everything _in_ them, _and_, on top of that, one of the large buckets of the Lentil Soup with Frankfurters..." Raven held her index finger and thumb about two inches apart, "...actual Frankfurters about this big, inside the soup."

Cyborg blinked at her, "Your point?"

Raven sighed. "You worry me," she said. "You really do."

"What should worry you is the full grown man in the Peter Pan getup directing the line," Robin said to her, under his breath.

Only Raven could have seen the man with white hair in the getup and manage to not make a comment or even crack a smile, but it tested even her limits.

Beast Boy, having nowhere near such limits, began to laugh.

"I think he is most adorable," Starfire chastised Beast Boy with a look.

"You think everything here is adorable, Kori," Raven said, not unkindly.

Starfire laughed. "But everything _is_!"

"How can you argue with that kind of logic, Rae?" Robin asked laughingly.

Raven smiled, a minuscule thing, and shook her head. "I suppose I can't."

_xxxxxxxxxxx_

Raven was glad to be sitting between Cyborg and Robin on the long bench style seats of the _It's A Small World_ boat. She had the strongest feeling that if she had been made to sit through the '_happiest cruise that ever sailed the seven seas!_'(1)and not been able to make sarcastic comments under her breath, she really would have exploded.

And considering Raven did not have those kinds of thoughts often, her feeling was not to be taken lightly.

But how could anyone sit through several renditions of _"It's a small world after all! It's a small world after all! It's a small world after all! It's a small, small, world!" _in several different languages (many of which Raven actually was fluent in, so she was actually processing what the brightly colored animatronic dolls were saying rather than it being just pleasant white noise) without wanting to blind themselves with the nearest sharp object and cut off their ears rather than see and hear any more of it?

"If I cut off my ears," Raven wondered, "Would I still be able to hear through the auditory canal?"

"Oh yeah," Cyborg answered. "I already thought of that."

"Damn."

"I don't think Germany is really that close to Russia, do you?" Robin whispered to Raven from the edge of the row.

"I think I want lederhosen," Cyborg deadpanned from her other side.

"Can't possibly make you look cuter than you did in Robin's tights," Raven whispered back to Cyborg.

"I still can't believe you didn't take any pictures of that," Robin mused from her other side, his eyes still on the dolls.

"I can't help it if I make everything look sexy," Cyborg said seriously.

"These dolls are actually frightening, aren't they?" Robin wondered.

"I think I'll have nightmares," Raven agreed as they traversed Asia.

"Although the costumes are actually pretty cool," Cyborg added thoughtfully.

Raven tore her gaze away from the dolls to look disbelievingly at him. "You collected dolls as a kid didn't you?" she asked.

Cyborg smirked. "My grandma," he confided.

"And isn't this like watching them all come to life?" Raven asked, seriously.

"With their little beady, glass like eyes?" Robin added, leaning almost over Raven's lap to whisper directly to Cyborg.

Cyborg's grin slipped from his face and he looked back at the dolls, "Dude, thanks," he frowned. "Now _I'll_ have nightmares too."

Any response any of the three would have made stilled as they turned to watch both Star and Beast Boy singing along with the music of the dolls.

Cyborg, Raven, and Robin turned very slowly to stare at them, then very slowly away, Cyborg and Robin looking at each other across Raven and Raven looking straight forward.

"Are we there yet?" Raven asked.

"No," Cyborg answered, his tone about as dejected as if he were explaining how someone had canceled Christmas. "No, we're not."

Robin rubbed at his forehead, "This is going to be a long day."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Fantasyland: Cinderella's Golden Carousel  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Raven was usually the one to take the least amount of time in the bathroom. She could only guess that this was due to the fact that she didn't have to adjust any image enhancers like Beast Boy and Cyborg (her pale skin and chakra stone saved from drawing unwarranted attention by the minor glamour she had used to hide them). She didn't have to check make-up or the positioning of clothing like Starfire, and she (unlike Robin) didn't really care if her hair was keeping its intended shape.

So the time after their bathroom pit stops between rides was really the only time she'd had alone since they had arrived in Orlando the day before. And, standing near the back of the castle, waiting for her friends to finish their primping and adjustments, her attention was drawn to the relatively simple lights of color in front of her.

She didn't think she'd ever really seen a carousel in person. She'd read about them and seen them in movies, but the carnivals and fairs that came to Jump never brought with them such a bulky ride.

Without hardly realizing it, she took several steps until she was standing near enough to the fence surrounding it that she could see the gaily painted horses and sleighs – the dull gleam on the polls, holding their wooden horses up and the smiles of joy and wonder on the faces of the children and surprisingly the adults that had just clambered onto their choices.

Its concept was simple, its premise completely illogical and really rather boring, so why, Raven wondered, was everyone so happy on it? She could feel her happy emotion itching to get on it, but Raven tampered it down. No way was she – a practically grown woman and a superheroine besides -- riding a carousel by herself and no way was she asking her friends to ride it.

Even if it was just to find out what about the ride made everyone so happy and especially not just because the most frivolous of her emotions wanted on.

Maybe Star would want to ride it, and if she did, she'd ride it then, but there was no chance of her giving in to Happy just like that.

"Isn't it lovely?"

Raven heard the awed exclamation but paid it no need, thinking the young voice couldn't be directed at her. That was, until she felt the tug on the hem of her shorts. Raven looked down at the little girl – a vision in a puffy pink dress she had to be hot in, who appeared to be around Timmy's age.

"Have you ridden it yet?" the girl asked.

"No," Raven answered, looking about for the child's parent or guardian.

"Me neither," the girl offered.

"Where are your mother and father?" Raven asked her.

"Getting water," she said. "I wanted to see the carousel," she announced.

"This is dangerous," Raven said in the voice reserved for stopping Timmy's tantrums or averting Teether's grip on a hapless inanimate object. "Find your parent at once."

"Kallee!" came the frantic cry to which the girl in front of Raven perked up and looked around. She pointed to a woman, about thirty, with brown hair picked up in a loose bun at the back of her head, who was approaching in a wheelchair.

"Here mommy!" the little girl called out happily. She turned back to Raven and grinned, "Found her," Kallee said.

"You shouldn't have made her worry," Raven said to the little girl.

"I didn't mean to," Kallee answered sincerely. When Kallee's mother finally approached, Kallee jumped into her arms. "I'm sorry for worrying you, mommy," she exclaimed.

Her mother stroked her hair and smiled at Raven. "Don't do it again, Kallee, you know how sad we are when we can't be with you, bebe."

"I won't, mommy, I promise!" Kallee said.

Kallee's mother looked up at Raven. "I'm sorry she bothered you," she said.

Raven didn't know what to say. She was caught between telling the woman to get one of those child leashes and remaining silent.

"But I wanted to ride the carousel," Kallee argued.

"Honey, you know it's too hard for mommy to get on there right now – you have to wait for daddy."

"But daddy's no fun," she insisted. "He never wants to ride."

"He'll ride this time," her mom promised.

"Maybe," Kallee allowed, "But he'll be grumpy while doing it."

"Kallee!" her mother chastised.

"I'll take her," Raven offered suddenly.

Kallee yelped and hugged Raven impulsively, "Yay! Let's go, let's go!" she said, tugging Raven's hand.

Raven looked at her mother. "Is that alright?"

The mother nodded and smiled. "Thank you..." She trailed off, obviously waiting for Raven to supply her name.

"Rachel," she offered.

"Thank you, Rachel," the mother smiled even brighter. "You're her new hero."

Raven shrugged it off and let Kallee lead her into the line. It wasn't that she engaged her in conversation while they were in the line that surprised Raven, however. But, by the time she helped Kallee onto the green and white horse ("just like in Mary Poppins"), and Raven knew that Kallee was in fact Timmy's age, that she lived in Houma, Louisiana, had no brothers or sisters, but a bestest friend named Beth-Anne that was soooo jealous that she got to go to Disney World that she just _had _to promise to bring her a Mickey Mouse plush, Raven started to get worried.

When Kallee managed to get Raven to agree to sit on a horse rather than just stand by her which had been her original plan, however, Raven began to consider just how she got into such situations in the first place and whether or not she was possessed of some sort of child magnet.

_xxxxxxxxxxx_

Raven was always the first to exit the bathrooms and he was usually the second. This was a given. So when Robin emerged and didn't immediately see Raven, he was slightly worried.

He knew she wouldn't go off by herself, so his first thought was that something had happened and she had gone off to help. But when the park's flow and atmosphere looked unruffled, however, he was really at a loss.

He looked around, searching for signs of purple hair and a red halter top amidst the sea of people for a few minutes to no avail. He was just starting to consider the possibility that one of their enemies had abducted her or at the very least, made her run or hide, and was beginning to think that it might be time to use their emergency communicators. He was about to bring it out of his pocket when he realized someone was staring at him.

He glanced at the amused woman in the wheelchair who was looking at him. Too preoccupied to wonder why she was staring, he merely smiled absently when she smiled at him before wondering if he should ask whether she might have noticed Raven. But the woman spoke before he could.

"Are you, by any chance, looking for a very pretty girl, wearing a red halter top with amazingly purple hair?"

Robin blinked at her for a few moments, surprised that the lady was speaking to him and for all intents and purposes, describing Raven to a T. "Yes, actually," Robin spoke. "I am." Robin approached her, "Do you know where she went?"

The woman grinned at him. "Sure do," she replied in a slightly southern accent. Before Robin could ask where, the woman pointed toward the carousel. "Actually, she should be coming into view right about..." Robin turned, disbelievingly, to stare at the carousel which he had never even thought of looking at when searching for Raven. "...now!" the woman said as a green and white horse with a small blond rider came into view, waving madly in their direction with one hand while holding onto Raven's hand with the other. She lost her balance for a bit and Raven automatically reached out to steady her. "And that's my little Kallee what conned her on the ride, the poor thing."

It took Robin another circuit of the carousel to figure out that he had not been seeing things and that Raven had, in fact, been sitting astride the purple and yellow wooden horse alongside the little girl. When she came around again, the little girl waved at her mother again, as enthusiastically as if it were the first time and Raven caught Robin's stare as her horse bobbed gently up and down. Robin couldn't help but smile at the utterly bewildered and slightly lost look to Raven's expression. By the time the carousel made its circuit a fourth time, Robin had recovered enough to smile broadly at her and wave the way the child was waving. Raven, still bewildered, waved back weakly as if she weren't sure this wasn't a dream.

Kallee's mother, meanwhile, had spent that third go-round looking at the countenance of the handsome young man as he looked upon her little girl's new hero. And when she recognized the look, she couldn't help but smile in tender remembrance. "Is she your girlfriend?" the mother asked.

Robin blinked out of his contemplation and looked at the mother again, having temporarily forgotten she was there. "Pardon?"

"Rachel," the mother said. "Is she your girlfriend?"

Robin looked at the woman for a bit, trying to determine whether he should tell her it was none of her business in as polite a way as possible, but the sincerity in her expression and the wistful smile on her lips made him decide, strangely, to be honest.

"No," he answered, smiling at her. "But I'm working on it."

The woman's smile broadened and she winked, "Best be working on it then, boy. You're obviously quite taken with her."

Robin tried not to blush as he stared fixedly at the turning carousel, waiting for Raven to come back into view. "Maybe not so obviously," Robin mused.

"Well, if you'll forgive my saying so," the woman continued. "It seems to me worth the effort." She noticed Robin had turned to look at her so she shrugged, "She seems about as comfortable on that carousel as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockin' chairs, yet, she offered to take a talkative little girl on it anyway." The woman looked back at the carousel as Raven and her little girl made their rounds again. "Definitely one worth working for, if you'll permit me saying so."

Robin watched as Raven once again bobbed into his view, the little girl now too preoccupied with pretending to actually be riding the horse to take much heed of her mother on the sidelines. Raven met his eyes and turned to keep his eyes when the carousel continued to turn, 'Help,' she mouthed before the carousel took her out of range.

He laughed aloud. "I agree," Robin answered the woman's earlier comment.

"Hey, where's Rachel?" Cyborg asked, coming up to them.

Robin looked at Cyborg and, an amused smile on his face, pointed toward the carousel.

"You've got to be kidding---" he was cut off as Raven came back into view and Cyborg's cybernetic eyesight immediately zeroed in on her. "--you're not kidding."

"Nope," Robin said, highly entertained.

"Is that Ray--" Beast Boy started, only to stop as Cyborg glared at him, "chel?" he finished lamely smiling nervously at the woman who was obviously listening to their conversation.

"It is," Robin answered.

Beast Boy watched as Raven came into view again, listening intently to the little girl as she babbled about little girl things. "Nah," he decided. "It can't be."

"Friend Rachel rode the lovely fake horses without us!" Starfire said in surprise.

"Only to make my little girl feel better," the mother added.

"It is alright, I am certain she would not mind riding it again," Starfire enthused pleasantly.

"You care to rethink that statement?" Raven asked, coming up next to the mother, holding the little girl's hand.

"Are these your friends?" Kallee asked excitedly. "Oh, they're just like you described them, Rae-Rae," she enthused.

"Rae-Rae?" Beast Boy snickered.

"Don't even think about it," Raven warned, glaring.

Kallee stepped up to Beast Boy, "Do you really like _all_ those different animals?" Kallee asked.

Beast Boy smiled awkwardly and rubbed at the back of his head, "Yeah."

"Even elephants?" the little girl asked, awestruck.

"Sure," Beast Boy added.

"Wow," Kallee breathed, turning to Cyborg. "And you look as strong as Rae-Rae said you are! Could you really carry me with just one hand?" she asked, smiling shyly at him.

Cyborg smiled, "Are you kidding?" he asked her, bending down to be eye level with her, "I could pick you up with this little finger right here..." he told her, holding out his pinky for her to see.

"Nuh-_uh!_" Kallee argued, giggling.

"Want me to try?" he asked. Kallee grinned and nodded, so Cyborg wrapped his finger around the top part of her dress and pulled, lifting her up off the ground, but steadying her with his other hand as he held her up over his head.

Kallee laughed and laughed until he put her back down. "But you used your other hand," she said, giggling.

"Well, I said I could pick you up...not hold you up," Cyborg pointed out.

Kallee laughed. "Ah! Caught you!" she exclaimed happily. "Still, that was awful high."

"You're just used to being closer to the ground, squirt," he said, laughing.

Kallee laughed and turned to find Starfire there. "Oh! You're Kori, aren't you?" she asked her, smiling.

Starfire nodded and curtsied. "I am little Princess," she admitted in an amused sort of formality.

Kallee did her best to imitate Star's curtsy and smiled even brighter. "You _are_ pretty," she confirmed.

Starfire giggled and beamed at her. "Thank you."

Kallee grinned and walked back to look adoringly up at Raven, "But not prettier than you, Rae-Rae."

Raven nearly stammered in the face of the little girl's blunt expression of her feelings. "You're biased," she answered monotonously.

Kallee turned back to finish her inspection of the group, and found Robin next to Cyborg, smiling shyly at him. "Can you really do a headstand with one hand?"

Robin smiled at her and looked at Raven over the little girl. "Did _Rae-Rae_ tell you that?" he asked her.

She nodded. "And she said you could do cartwheels and juggle..." she continued in awe.

"I can," he told her. "But probably not all at the same time," he joked.

Kallee giggled and clapped, "Oh, can I see?" she asked. "Please?"

Robin looked awkward for a moment, and just as he was about to consider doing a handstand to not disappoint the little girl, they were interrupted.

"So there you are, sha," a deep, masculine voice said from their left.

"Daddy!" Kallee exclaimed happily, running at her father. The tall man scooped her up easily into his arms and she giggled. "I met the nicest girl, her name's Rachel and her friends and her live in Jump City, where's Jump City Daddy? And they all live together but they're really nice and Kori is pretty, but Rachel is prettier and Gar likes animals a lot and they have lots of pets and --"

"Easy there, petite," the father said laughingly. He looked at the unbeknownst to him, Titans, and smiled warmly at them. "You've made quite an impression on her," he said to them.

Kallee looked at Raven, "Rae-Rae, look," she put a hand on her father's chin, "This is the Daddy."

Raven nodded to him, "Very nice to meet you, sir."

"That's the Rae-Rae, daddy!" Kallee enthused.

"Rachel took her on the carousel," the mother offered.

"Well, that was very nice of you," the man said. "I've made reservations at the restaurant back over there for lunch, can we get you to join us?" he asked them.

"No, thank you, we've just eaten," Raven answered politely before Cyborg could let his stomach be his guide and accept.

"Well, thank you again," the mother said.

"Bye Rae-Rae, come play with me again, 'kay?" Kallee called over her father's shoulder. "And get Gar to bring the elephant next time!"

Raven waved as they walked away and when they were out of earshot, without turning to face her friends whom she could just feel were staring at her, announced, "The first person who makes a comment will wake up with something essential missing."

"So, who's ready for the _Haunted Mansion_?" Cyborg called merrily into the silence.

It wasn't until then that Raven turned.

"We've still got another forty minutes before we can use the Fast Pass," Robin reminded them.

"Oh, then let's do _Mickey's Philharmagic_ while we're here!" Beast Boy offered.

"Oh, yes, please!" Star enthused. "I am most eager to see the music which the much beloved monarch of this kingdom can create!"

"The wait time for that is thirty minutes," Robin pointed out. "We won't be able to do that and get back in enough time to make the _Haunted Mansion_."

"Well, how about _Snow White's Scary Adventures_?" Beast Boy suggested. "It's right across there," he pointed to where the sign could be seen in the near distance.

"Wait time's for that one is 40 minutes," Cyborg said, using his cybernetic eye to read the time counter.

"Dude," Beast Boy exclaimed. "That's just wrong."

"Why would Snow White's ride be a longer wait than Mickey's?" Raven asked logically.

"Because Mickey's is a theater style thing," Robin answered. "They can sit more people per show than they can in Snow White which is a ride that you can only sit two or three people at a time."

"Two," Cyborg offered up before thinking it through, "Three if you're tiny." He noticed what he had said when everyone else had stopped to look at him. "What?" he asked. "I can see the ride thing from here," he excused. This, of course, wasn't exactly truthful. Not that he couldn't see the seat things from where they stood, just that he didn't have to.

Fortunately, it was enough for his teammates because they went on considering what they should do next.

"Well, the only other things around here are _it's a small world _and_ Dumbo_."

"I don't think _any_ of us fit on the _Dumbo_ ride," Cyborg scoffed. "Except maybe Raven cause she's so small."

Raven raised a brow at him.

"Well, you are," he said, moving so that he was no longer within glaring range.

"May we go on the _small world_ ride again, please?" Starfire asked, her eyes glimmering with hope.

"I'll go," Beast Boy enthused.

"No thank you," Raven said seriously. "Once was _more_ than enough for me." She looked at the others. "Don't look at me like that," she preempted Robin, "We said we would all ride the rides but we never said anything about repeats."

"Fine, but if you get off riding this one, so do I," Robin said.

She shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Alright, let's go," Cyborg said enthusiastically, grinning like an idiot.

"Vic?" Robin asked, "I didn't think you liked _Small World_ so much," Robin said wonderingly.

"I thought you hated it," Raven added.

"I need to cleanse myself of your comments before I can go back to my grandmother's house, thankyouverymuch," he said defensively. "Alright come on, or we won't have any time," he told Beast Boy and Starfire. "And you two, don't disappear," Cyborg told them as he led the other two into the line.

"Where does he think we'll go?" Raven asked, watching them follow the line down the ramp and disappear.

Robin was looking around, initially, for a place for them to sit. What he found was much, much better. "Wait right here," Robin said, going off somewhere behind them and getting lost in the crowd.

Raven frowned and thought, "He has ten minutes."

Six minutes later, when Robin came bounding up to where Raven was staring up at the large clock that seemed to be the centerpiece of the Small World facade, Raven made a conscious choice _not_ to look at him.

"I'm back," Robin announced.

"Joy," Raven deadpanned.

"Aw, c'mon, you know you missed me."

Raven looked pointedly at her watch. "You had precisely three minutes twenty-two seconds before I went off in pursuit of my own enjoyments."

"You mean I was three minutes and twenty-two seconds shy of letting you loose to befriend another hapless child?" he teased.

Raven looked at him like she knew exactly what she wanted to say to _that_ but wouldn't because they were in a public place. "Maybe," she offered instead, her expression turning neutral. "There are many of them around."

Robin grinned and extended one hand to her. "Here."

Raven blinked down at his hand.

"Quick, before it melts," he hurried.

"What is it?" she finally asked.

"It's ice cream," Robin told her.

"In the shape of a mouse?" Raven asked, clearly skeptical.

"In the shape of a much beloved monarch," Robin corrected her. When Raven didn't take the proffered treat, he chuckled. "Come on. You can bite his ears off..." he tempted.

Raven took the ice cream and watched as Robin went about unwrapping his own. "You went off just to buy _this_?" Raven asked, before mimicking him.

"Yeah."

"Why?" she asked seriously, looking down at the happy face of Mickey Mouse in frozen cream.

"Maybe because I figured that after _small world_ you might jump at the chance to bite Mickey's head off, at least in effigy?" When Raven did not seem amused, but rather seemed to be considering his reasoning, he chuckled and took a healthy chomp at Mickey's left ear, "Plus," he spoke around the ice cream, "No one is allowed to leave the Magic Kingdom without eating at least one Mickey Ear Ice Cream."

She watched as he went back to finish off the left ear. "Is that a rule somewhere?" she asked.

"Absolutely," Robin answered, swallowing.

"Really?" she questioned, licking experimentally at the chocolate covered ear, feeling only mildly cannibalistic.

"Oh yeah," Robin assured her. "It's in the manual." He seemed about to continue when he noticed that she was licking her frozen treat and not biting. "If you keep licking it, it's only going to make the chocolate –" He cut himself off as a section of the chocolate coating started to fall.

Visibly unperturbed, Raven saved it from the floor with her left hand, then looked about for a moment, wondering what to do and where or how to get it off her fingers. Robin watched, enthralled, as the different options flit almost visibly across her face and he could practically hear the moment she gave in, seconds before she raised her fingers and the rapidly melting chocolate into her mouth, sucking the chocolate off her index and ring fingers in quick succession before returning to her ice cream.

Robin choked a little on a stray bit of chocolate in surprise at the unexpected decision, but Raven continued their previous conversation as if she had not just done something completely out of character at and least slightly erotic.

"I didn't get a manual," she spoke, biting into the remaining bit of her ice cream's right ear.

"Did you _ask_ for a manual?" he countered.

Raven raised a brow as she licked her lips, "I didn't know we had to ask for one."

Robin shook his head pityingly and started in on the right ear himself, "Ignorance is no excuse." When she raised a brow at him, he shrugged, "You'll just have to take my word for it then."

"Hm," she said and took another experimental lick at the now exposed vanilla ice cream of Mickey's ear.

"You'll never finish it before it melts if you just keep licking at it," he told her imperiously.

"I'm supposed to gnaw at it as you are doing, I suppose?" she questioned doubtfully.

He took another healthy bite and smiled at her as he chewed and swallowed. "Otherwise, it'll just melt and make a huge mess."

"Who ever thought it would be a good idea to serve ice cream on a stick?" she wondered aloud.

"Hey, it's good stuff once you get the hang of it," he assured her.

She looked back at the ice cream and tried, tentatively, to bite into the vanilla, teeth first which of course, didn't work out. She pulled back and sucked on her teeth, trying to warm them from the sudden, unexpected sting of the cold.

Robin must have seen her problem, because he chuckled. "Rookie mistake," he teased. She raised her brows at him and he shrugged. "To avoid teethfreeze—"

"—teethfreeze?" she interrupted.

He continued as if she hadn't spoken, "-one must prevent the teeth from making direct contact with the ice cream." Raven looked at him skeptically, so he brought his ice cream close to his mouth and took on the air of learned teacher. "Observe," he commanded, pulling his top lip over his teeth and using the modified bite to take a chunk out of his ice cream.

"You look absolutely ridiculous."

He laughed. "Go on, try it," he prodded.

"I refuse," she said stoically.

"Well, then, you might as well forget about the rest of the ice cream." He went back to eating his ice cream, the way he had showed her and Raven looked at hers thoughtfully.

After a few moments of consideration, she began licking at the ice cream with almost visible vigor, as if to prove him wrong and when, a few moments later, a small trickle of melting vanilla ran down the side of her hand, she didn't think twice about turning her hand and licking it away.

Primal instincts had taken over.

What else could excuse the fact that she didn't feel embarrassed when she noticed Robin staring at her, pausing in her licking of the ice cream only long enough to frown at him. "Richard," she called his attention, her tone serious.

He blinked and tried not to blush as he realized he'd been caught staring. "What?"

"Your ice cream's melting."

"Rae?"

"What?" she asked.

"You eat ice cream like a little kid."

She paused to raise a brow, unconsciously licking at the corner of her lip, the Raven-Gesture somehow only making her seem more child-like when she had vanilla and chocolate ice cream spots along her lips. "Pardon?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "You have--" he broke off to point at his own chin. "--right..." he pointed again, but the other brow rose clearly showing her confusion.

"A chin?" she asked.

He frowned. "No," he said pointedly, knowing she was purposefully being facetious. "Some ice cream, right there," he said, pointing again on his own chin.

"I can feel it, thank you," she said, continuing to eat.

"Here," he handed her a napkin, but she only took it in one hand and continued to eat without using it.

"Aren't you going to clean it off?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered, devoting her attention on where she should lick at her ice cream next for best effect.

"Not now, though?" Robin asked after a moment passed and she still didn't move to clean off the ice cream.

"No."

Robin frowned, "Why not?"

"It would be pointless and illogical to clean up now, when I will likely get dirty again before I am through consuming the ice cream."

He couldn't argue with that, except that it was hard to resist the instinct to reach out and clean her off himself.

"You really are like a little kid eating ice cream," Robin was saying.

"So?" Raven asked. "Why does it bother you so much?"

"It just surprises me," he admitted. "You're usually so neat about everything."

"The ice cream will melt and there is no neat way to eat ice cream on a stick in nearly 95 degree tropical heat," she answered.

"I didn't get that messy," he pointed out.

She shrugged, unconcerned. "You've also had more practice at it, I'd wager." He couldn't argue with that. "I suppose that is why it seems to you that I am eating ice cream like a child," she said.

He smiled teasingly at her. "That's no excuse."

She licked at her ice cream and smirked, or as close to smirking as Raven ever got which really had much more to do with the look to her eyes than the curve of her lips, "This is really bothering you isn't it?" she asked, licking off another bit.

"Yes," he admitted, even though he would never tell her why. Then, unable to resist any longer, Robin struck out for her cheek with a balled up napkin in his hand, but she looked up at him just in time to dodge his hand and step back and away from him just out of reach.

Robin parried, and for a few moments, it almost looked as if they were dancing. Robin, long having finished with his own ice cream, was devoting full time and attention to wiping at Raven's cheek and chin, but she dodged him blithely while continuing to lap up the last of the ice cream on her Popsicle stick.

It was a good thing they were both extremely conscious of not appearing 'super' at all, or it might have degenerated into the ice-cream clean-up equivalent of a full-out sparring match.

"Why are you so stubborn about this?" he asked, stepping forward and darting in.

She slipped under his hand and stepped gracefully away from him, "Why is it so important to you?"

He paused just long enough to exhale. He certainly couldn't tell her that watching her eat her ice cream had been the most sensual thing he had ever seen her do. He looked up at her, hoping some answer might come to him, but then she stopped moving away, lowered the bare Popsicle stick and he saw his chance.

"It just is."

Raven stood still and let him capture her face, standing immobile as he wiped at the ice cream. Her eyes focused on the top of his head as he bent to his task and there was a bit of smile in her voice as she asked, "Because you have discovered the sudden need to be my father now?"

Robin stopped wiping and raised his eyes to meet hers. "Not exactly."

Neither of them had noticed the approach of their friends from the exit of the ride, so how could they have noticed the way that both Starfire and Beast Boy had stopped a few feet away from them, staring at them or how Cyborg, towering behind them, was grinning like a fool.

Eventually, however, Cyborg noticed that Starfire and Beast Boy had both stopped a few inches in front of him and a little bit after that, he noticed what they were staring at.

_'Aw, crap,'_ Cyborg cursed internally.

He racked his brain for a few moments, trying to come up with some way to distract them or _something_ to diffuse the potential situation. _What _were_ Beast Boy and Starfire seeing when they looked at the two birds?_ Cyborg wondered, but he didn't really want to find out. Not here. Not when things were still so tentative and fragile between them. So he did the first thing that came to his head.

"Who's ready for some turkey leg?!" he called out in a deep, booming voice, that carried clearly over Beast Boy, Starfire, Robin and Raven.

"Dude, that's disgusting!" Beast Boy exclaimed automatically, turning back to glare at him, his expression normal.

Starfire watched Cyborg approach, waiting until he reached her before asking, "How many stomachs do you have, Victor?"

Cyborg laughed. "Just the one," he told her, winking, "But I'm a growing boy."

"You're a _carnivore_ is what you are," Beast Boy mumbled unhappily.

"You're just _now_ starting to figure that out?" Raven asked Beast Boy.

"Actually..." Beast Boy thought and then sighed, giving up.

"The turkey legs are sold in Tomorrowland," Robin told Cyborg.

"So, let go, what're we waiting for?" Cyborg asked. "Tomorrowland sounds like the place to be, anyway."

"Our tickets for _The Haunted Mansion_ are active now," Robin told him.

"We _gotta_ do the _Haunted Mansion_!" Beast Boy enthused.

"He's right," Robin said. "Plus, it's closer," he pointed the direction they needed to go for the Liberty Square part of the park.

"Oh well, that Columbia Harbor place with the chowder was in Liberty Square, wasn't it?" Cyborg asked.

Beast Boy groaned and lowered his head, "This is going to be a long day."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Liberty Square: The Haunted Mansion  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

The moment they were all crammed into the round picture parlor, Raven tensed.

It was a little known fact that Raven seriously did not like enclosed spaces. Oh, she could control her fear of them well enough and if it was a transient thing, like an elevator or a car or a big enough area, she didn't really care. Normally, a room the size of the one they were standing in should have not been a problem – if there weren't also fifty or so people crammed in with them.

It didn't help any that she had dulled down her empathy purposefully so as not to be overwhelmed in the press of people she knew she'd encounter in Walt Disney World. That she was successful was a promising show of her increasing control. However, that she could not even feel her friends, even though they were near to her, the way she normally could was disconcerting. She knew that Star was on her right, and Robin on her left and she could see Beast Boy and Cyborg in front of them, but when the door closed with a sudden bang, she wished they were close enough for her to feel their auras. She didn't realize she had shifted at all until her shoulder bumped Robin's and he looked at her in question. She was still debating what to tell him when the show started and any explanation she might have been willing to share was, by necessity, cut off.

When the lights went out completely, she tensed instinctively, her first thought entirely focused on bringing light back into the enclosed area however necessary – until she felt a warm, strong hand slip around hers and squeeze around her fingers. She knew as soon as their skin touched who it was and it was a purely instinctual reaction that had her return the hold.

And then through her immediate sense of panic, calm descended. The fear and anxiety, the yelps and nervous laughter of the people all around her fell away and grew muted and distant under the weight of that calm. It felt to Raven not unlike the utter sense of peace she felt in the midst of her meditation, but she knew she had not even thought of meditation—perhaps in another few moments she might have, but not then, not that immediately. _N__ot_ as soon as Robin clasped her hand.

It was the strangest thing she had yet experienced but the lights flashed back on throwing the room around them back into her immediate perception before she had much of a chance to explore the emotion. She blinked back the light and looked, she was sure, in utter amazement at Robin's profile. Still, despite her intense stare, he didn't turn to her. Raven thought about saying something, anything, but he was acting, for all the world, as if he wasn't still holding her hand and she was at a loss as to how to handle the situation.

Not that she felt uncomfortable, but she was starting to feel embarrassment at the thought of someone (especially Robin) catching her staring at him like a landed trout, so she turned away and when they began to be herded through a new door like so much sheep, she started forward, determined.

Robin let her walk ahead of him, and when she opened her hand, he didn't try to keep her fingers from slipping out of his.

When they found themselves in a new line, winding through a Victorian inspired, appropriately morbidly lit hallway, Robin followed behind Raven, occasionally looking behind him to make certain the others hadn't been lost in the crowd during the formation of the lines.

"Dude, do _not_ make me baby-leash you!" Cyborg exclaimed, pulling Beast Boy away from his investigation of one of the sconces adorning the wall to their left.

"I just wanna see how real it is!" Beast boy defended.

"I'll do it," Cyborg warned.

When Beast Boy left the sconce alone without Cyborg having to gerry-rig a Beast Boy Leash, Robin turned back to watch Raven in front of him, as she looked around appearing, for all intents and purposes, as if she were ready for a true monster to attack at any moment.

It was easy to forget that Raven didn't like situations of the kind she had voluntarily walked into by coming into a haunted house, especially when she was so composed all the time. But he knew. And he hadn't needed the press of her hand in his when the lights went out to tell him either.

He closed the short distance between them and leaned on the line division next to her, "You don't like haunted houses, do you?" he asked.

She didn't even pretend, just shook her head. "There are some emotions," she said, "that I'll never understand--"

"For instance?" he prodded.

"Whichever emotion it is that prompts the desire in people to submit themselves to being intentionally scared."

Robin couldn't help it – he smiled. But he wasn't laughing at her, he was smiling at her. Smiling at her uncanny logic to things and smiling even more because she wasn't denying what she felt in this situation and especially because she had come onto the ride anyway.

"If you don't like it, why'd you agree to come on it?" Robin asked as they walked steadily onward toward the loading platform for their _'Doom Buggies'_.

She looked at him, "We all ride the rides together," she repeated what they all swore to before entering the park that morning. "Besides," she said, looking around, "I'm sure this can't be worse than _it's a small world_."

Robin chuckled, "Entirely different kind of scary," he said.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, "I don't know, those dolls --" she trailed off and shrugged, turning as she walked, and starting a little at finding they were already at the head of the line, the cast member in dark green and gray Victorian garb motioned for them to wait and watched as the ride cars, resembling armchairs, approached.

Robin must have sensed her nervousness because he smiled at her, "Hey," he said lightheartedly, "It's Disney – how bad could it be?"

The cast member motioned for them to go onto the moving platform. Raven squared her shoulders and walked onto the moving platform. She was a little unsteady on her feet when she first stepped on, but in no time she was moving steadily toward their Buggie, too concerned with keeping herself on her feet to worry about Robin and the others until she was already seated. When she reached the Buggie, she sat quickly, as if afraid it might get away from her, sliding over to the far side of the seat, just as quickly, making enough room so Robin and Starfire could both fit.

When she finally looked up, it was to find Robin walking easily across the moving platform while Starfire, Beast Boy and finally Cyborg followed close behind. When Robin and Starfire started for her car, she turned to watch as Beast Boy and Cyborg practically ran for the car behind theirs.

She was paying attention to Cyborg and Beast Boy's antics as they argued over which side of the car they should sit in and then to Beast Boy's ridiculous arguments as he informed Cyborg that he took up all the space on the seat so that when Robin slid into the seat next to her, she didn't immediately notice that the lap bar was lowering and Starfire hadn't sat down.

"Where's Kori?" Raven asked, looking at where people were walking onto the platform, half standing to try and catch a glimpse of her, wondering whether she had somehow gotten lost in the line.

"She followed us onto the platform," Robin said, about to get out of the seat altogether in order to go find her before the ride could move them beyond the loading area.

"I saw that," Raven confirmed. "Kori?" she called out.

"I am not lost, friends!"

Robin and Raven both twisted until they could look over the side edge of their seats to stare at the seat behind them. Starfire, wedged between Beast Boy and Cyborg, waved sheepishly. Cyborg and Beast Boy waved in turn.

"What are you--?" Robin started.

"Why did you--?" Raven said simultaneously.

Starfire grinned sheepishly, "I lost sight of you and came to the wrong car, and I was hurried without time to find yours." She looked from Cyborg to Beast Boy. "Now they are squished."

"No worries, Kori, we're fine, really, aren't we Beast Boy?" Cyborg asked.

"I feel like tuna," Beast Boy said laughingly, "But hey, I'm not complaining."

"Oh, Kori," Raven exhaled.

"Are you really okay?" Robin asked.

Cyborg scooted as far to his side as he could to give both Beast Boy and Starfire room and grinned his 100 watt smile. "Peachy!"

Raven shook her head and turned in the seat, facing forward and leaning against the backrest. Her voice, when she spoke, was casual, "Maybe we should consider a baby leash for Star?"

Robin was about to comment when he noticed her posture. Her hands were gripping the lap bar as if she expected being snatched out of her seat at any moment, her shoulders were bunched and she looked around her with suspicion at every shadow and corner.

The last thing Robin was paying attention to as the ride started was their _Ghost Host's _narration through the speakers behind them. He was much too preoccupied with wondering when Starfire's absentmindedness had translated into a bad sense of direction and speculating on whether Raven would ever relax enough to enjoy the corniness of the ride.

The ride itself held his attention for all of three minutes, after which Robin glanced at Raven. He was happy to note that she seemed to be relaxing somewhat. There was only the slightest hint of tension in her shoulders instead of the rock hard way she was holding them before, for one. She wasn't gripping the lap bar at all now, for another, and it actually looked as if she was watching the ride for its own sake rather than for signs of an attack. Yes, he might've hoped for a different seating arrangement (she was _still _sitting so far away from him on the seat, three people could've fit between them) he could've sworn there was actually a bit of a smile on her lips as the seat turned them around to face the car behind them. When she returned (albeit half-heartedly) Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire's wave, he knew she was as comfortable as she was going to get.

By the time they traveled backward down the hallway with the blacklit doors creaking and doing a decent imitation of straining to warp outward, Raven was almost smiling.

Of course, it was at just that moment, as they passed a particularly dark corner, that one of the Disney cast members decided it might be a fun idea to knock briskly against Raven's side of the car while moaning ominously.

Raven reacted immediately, jerking away from her side of the car, and sliding across the seat pushing against Robin. He was certain if the lap bar hadn't been restraining her, she might have ended up on his lap or, worst case scenario, on his other side. She instinctively raised her hands in a gesture Robin knew all too well.

Thankfully, Robin also reacted quickly, going from amused to intent in five seconds flat. He wrapped his arms around her back and grabbed a firm hold of each of her wrists, bringing her arms in against her chest, using the leverage afforded by his positioning to hold her hands immobile by pressing her against him until she calmed.

"Just part of the ride," he said in her ear.

She was so surprised that she didn't struggle, or try to get away from him. Instead, she went completely still, only the rapid beat of her heart thumping against his chest giving her surprise away.

In half a minute, her heartbeat started to calm, and the tension in her arms slowly eased, but he didn't let her go and she didn't try to move. He could feel the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed and he wondered whether or not he might get out of this with his life intact. This was more than holding her hand in the dark when she was scared. He knew it. He just wondered whether she knew it.

"Did you get his name?" she finally asked, her voice low while the ride continued, and their '_Ghost Host_' continued his narration, as if one of Disney's cast members hadn't been within a word whisper away from certain doom.

"No," Robin lied.

"Tell me his name, Richard," she insisted, and her voice sounded eerily calm and logical.

Robin smirked, satisfied that if she could take that tone, she was calm. "You're going to hunt him down and hurt him if I do that, Rachel," he answered in just the same calm and logical tone of voice.

"No," she said, and at his obvious disbelief, she blinked innocently. "Just scare him – my word."

He knew the value of her word. He respected it. And it wasn't that he didn't trust in it either. But in that moment, he knew her notion of what constituted "scaring" and what might be considered cruel and unusual punishment by act of law might be just a little blurred. "No."

"Fine," she said. "I'll have to get it myself, then."

Her heart beat was considerably more composed, but still not the steady rhythm he knew was the norm for her. "Behave, Rae," he said only somewhat in his leader voice. He was too amused to make it sound any sterner.

"You can't hold on to me forever," Raven pointed out.

There was a heavy pause, wherein Robin seriously weighed his options between what he _wanted_ to answer and what he _should_ answer to such a casual statement. In the end, he decided on a safe halfway point. "I'd be willing to give it a try."

She hesitated for a moment, and he knew if he could have seen her face, he'd find she wore a deeply concentrated look. She was considering her options. "Fine," she allowed. "I will take no retaliation against him at all."

The ride jerked them a little and pulled them both away from the side of the car where Robin's back was currently pressed in order to hold her in the position they were in. He felt her tense and shift a little and clucked at her. "I don't believe you."

She turned to glare at him, but started at finding his eyes so close. The seat jerked again and she slid another few inches closer to him. "My word that I will not harm – or scare – the cretin who thought it amusing to surprise me," she avowed seriously.

Robin frowned and slowly loosened his hold on her hands, pulling his arms away, "You give up too easily, Rae," he said as she settled back into the seat. He smiled, though, when he noticed that she didn't move back to her side entirely.

She was about to answer when she saw the optical illusion of the ghosts waltzing and feasting in the ballroom just beyond the glass of the ride's displays. She leaned forward to get a better view and the moment between them, such as it was, passed.

When she leaned back against the chair, their shoulders bumped.

"Thank you," she said, her eyes on the scenes of the ride before them.

He watched her profile for a moment, then smiled. "For keeping you from murdering a Disney employee?" He shrugged. "No problem. Anytime."

She glared at him. "I would not have committed murder."

"Well...any form of battery, really," Robin corrected.

"Your faith in me is sadly lacking," Raven said, deadpan.

Robin smiled at her. "Just kidding, Rae," he said sincerely. "I know you wouldn't hurt him." Apparently satisfied, Raven turned back to looking at the cemetery scene with the ghosts. "Much," he added as an afterthought.

"So long as we're clear," Raven answered, frowning at the hitchhiking ghosts in their '_Doom_ _Buggy_' in the mirror.

"Hey, look! Rae got the one with the hat!" Beast Boy exclaimed as their car approached, now next to them.

"I'm surprised even a ghost fits in that car," Robin mused.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Liberty Square: Liberty Bell Riverboat  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"She is so lucky!"

"I know! Three really hot guys--"

"Well...two really hot guys and one that's kinda cute."

Their giggles grated on Raven's nerve endings, but she remained still, hoping they'd walk on.

They didn't.

"Tell me about it."

"I wanna be part of that club."

"I wonder who's with who?"

"Maybe they're all with each other?"

"Eew!"

"You're such an innocent, Ginger!"

The giggling started again and Raven was just about to walk away when what the blond spoke stilled her.

"I think I hate the one with the purple hair, though, I've gotta admit."

Raven frowned.

"Why don't you hate the red-head, too, while you're at it?" the red-head asked sarcastically.

"Well," the blond defended, "What do those girls have that we don't?" she asked on a sigh.

"Three hot guys to play with," the red-head offered seriously.

"And I hate to admit it, but they're pretty hot themselves, you know," the brunette offered up logically.

"You know what they say about beautiful people."

"Hey, I'm beautiful!"

"Not _that_ beautiful."

"Gee, thanks."

"A girl can dream, can't she?"

"Yeah," the others agreed reluctantly.

"I wonder where the short one gets her hair dyed?"

"Did you see that?" the blond enthused. "It doesn't look fake at all, it's such a good dye job!" she said, totally in awe.

"So she gets three hot guys and a fabulous hair dresser?" the red-head asked. "Okay, so I hate her, too."

"Now you see what I mean?" the blond asked.

Raven rolled her eyes and started to walk away again, when the brunette spoke up again.

"Oh hey! It's hot guy #1, with the blue eyes, walking this way."

Raven looked and found that Robin was, indeed, heading in their direction.

The girls preened and smiled right at him. Robin walked right up to them and, smiling politely, excused himself _through_ where they stood blocking the width of the deck since he couldn't walk around them. He ignored their looks of disappointment and walked right up to where Raven was leaning against the red balustrade of the Liberty Belle. Raven continued looking out at the Rivers of America even as Robin settled into leaning against the balustrade next to her. The big red paddle-wheel turned and the boat chugged along lazily as the automated narration piped around them.

"I think you've just broken about four hearts," Raven commented when it was obvious the girls had decided it was useless to try for his attention.

Robin glanced back as the girls walked away, "Four?" he asked, turning back to her and grinning, "I counted six girls."

Raven raised a brow at him. "The brunette with the polo shirt prefers Victor and the red-head thinks Gar is cute."

"Damn," Robin whistled. "I lost one to Gar?" He shook his head. "I must be losing my touch."

She barely resisted a smile. "Peacock," she announced.

He shrugged and smiled at her. "I could've sworn that would make you smile," he analyzed.

"It did." At his raised eyebrow, she looked away. "On the inside."

"Well, why not on the outside?" he asked. "This is the Happiest Place on Earth!" he said, motioning around them. He leaned a little toward her, and narrowed his eyes at her. "Do I need to take you on Splash Mountain another dozen times to get your adrenaline pumping just to get a little smile from you?"

She didn't look at him.

"I'll be soggy and squish when I walk, but I'll do it."

She did smile then. "I apologize," she offered. "I will try to show my amusement more openly."

"That's all _I'm_ asking for."

She nodded.

"Vic, however, wants you to friendlier."

She turned to glare at him and he raised his hands. "Hey, not me – him – but I gotta say, you're all the way over here, alone, first chance you get..."

"Some alone time is warranted before the urge to strangle Garfield becomes unbearable," she excused.

He smiled but didn't give up. "Even so, I think scaring little kids is taking it a bit too far."

Raven frowned and looked to find where the little boy, about 10, who had asked if she liked sea monkeys had scurried off to his mother. "All I said was no," Raven defended.

"It's the way you said it, Rae," Robin explained.

"He probably shouldn't be talking to strangers anyway," Raven said, staring back out toward the shore.

Robin laughed. "Probably not, but still..."

Raven sighed. "I shall try."

"Alright," Robin nodded and smiled at her again. "Cause seriously, I don't think I'll be able to stop Vic from buying you that Grumpy t-shirt if you don't mend your wicked ways."

Raven opened her mouth to tell him exactly what she thought of that threat when Beast Boy came bounding up to them.

"Dudes!" he exclaimed, Starfire and Cyborg following behind him. "We gotta get to Main Street when we get off here. The parade's gonna start!"

Robin looked at his watch, "It's not for another 45 minutes, and we'll be off the Riverboat in like 5," he pointed out.

"Tch," Beast Boy said. "We gotta get seats!" as if it should have been obvious.

"Forty-five minutes before the parade starts?" Raven asked.

"I am not standing behind two dozen people to see the parade," Beast Boy announced. "And then we'll just be pushed around, kids can get lethal when they're trying to get a glimpse at Mickey, and then we'll just end up missing it all."

"Oh, I do not wish to miss the parade!" Starfire added.

"I'll turn into a giraffe or something, dude, I swear, if I have to," Beast Boy warned.

Robin looked from Beast Boy to Starfire, then to Cyborg who shrugged and Raven who rolled her eyes. "Main Street it is," Robin announced, looking at them all.

"Woohoo!" Beast Boy exclaimed, while Starfire clapped happily.

Robin looked pointedly at Raven who smiled, but only minimally. "Huzzah," she announced, just slightly warmer than her usual deadpan.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Mainstreet, USA: Share a Dream Come True Parade  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"I smell meat," Cyborg announced once they were seated.

Beast Boy made a gagging noise. "Dude, you need to fix that nose sensor of yours, cause really...that's gross."

But Cyborg was looking around and not paying attention to Beast Boy at all as he spotted the storefront with the baseball player standing outside proclaiming itself "Casey's Corner".

"Oooh, hot dogs!" his eyes lit up like he had just been shown the inside of heaven.

"We just had lunch," Raven pointed out.

"Two hours ago," Cyborg retorted. "And it was only a measly--"

"--_hearty_ German Lentil stew with Frankfurters in it," she reminded him.

"Tiny ones..."

"Any larger and they would've needed their own plate."

Cyborg grinned. "_That's_ what I'm talking about! Where can I get me some of those?"

"I worry about you."

"Excuse me, but these are the dogs that are hot but not dogs, correct?" Starfire asked.

"Mmm-yummy hot dogs with relish and chili and cheese, and sauerkraut and loads of ketchup and mustard--" Cyborg enthused.

Starfire's stomach growled, or one of them did anyway, and Raven looked at her. "You too?" she asked.

"Well," Starfire blushed. "Only one of my stomachs need be filled at a time, but Victor's description sounds so appetizing."

"Alright, Kori!" he exclaimed, standing up. "How many do you want?" he asked her. "Three? Four?"

Raven lowered her head into her hands, but Robin saw the flash of her smile.

"Three will suffice," Starfire answered. "I believe," she turned pensive. "Are they large?"

"Well..." Cyborg thought about it. "I don't know," he admitted. "Maybe you should come with?" Cyborg asked.

Starfire nodded and stood up.

"Anyone else?"

"Actually," Robin started.

"Et tu Brute?" Raven asked.

Robin smiled, "Hey, I didn't have nearly as much food as those two and plus, we've burned off a lot of calories in walking..."

"Dude!" Beast Boy whined. "Now _I'm_ hungry!" he said, clutching at his stomach.

"Fine, what do you want?" Cyborg asked.

"Perhaps there is a tofu hot dog for our friend?" Starfire asked.

"Alright," Cyborg said. "One tofu hotdog. Rick, you?"

"One with the works," Robin answered.

"You got it," Cyborg turned to Raven. "Rae, one with relish, hold the onions and ketchup?"

"I might as well," she said in a very put upon voice, as if she were succumbing due only to overwhelming pressure.

"Boo yah!" Cyborg enthused. "Hot dogs all the way around. Be right back, you three hold our seats."

"Hey, wait up!" Beast Boy called, starting after them. "How do I know you'll really get me a tofu hot dog?" he ran after them as they made their way across the street.

Raven rearranged their bags to save the space for their friends and turned to Robin sitting next to her. "What?" she asked.

"After getting on poor Vic's case --" he started.

"He really does worry me," she defended.

"And making Kori feel self-conscious about her stomachs--" he continued.

"She surprised me that was all."

"And calling me Brutus--"

"It was a saying, Richard, just a saying."

"You get one too," he finished as if she hadn't been defending herself the whole time.

It took her about a split second before she smiled. "When in Rome..."

Robin smiled widely, and couldn't help but up the mental tally he had been keeping. _'Raven 2, Disney World, 2 and the score is even.'_

"Are those fries?" she asked, motioning subtly to the boy sitting next to Robin with a cup in his hands.

Robin looked at the cup, "I think so," he answered, then turned a mischievous smile on her. "Want some?"

Raven didn't need to answer – her eyes did it for her. He stood fluidly from his seat on the sidewalk and bowed to her with flourish. "I'll be right back."

Raven shook her head at him a bit, but was keeping true to her promise and she smiled before he left.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

As she stared up at the children playing happily with the storybook castle at the end of the street as a backdrop, Raven couldn't help but admit, albeit grudgingly, that Walt Disney World did have a certain charm.

She knew that it looked as if she wasn't enjoying herself, and she knew that she did come across as…well, grumpy. She wasn't. (No matter how much the others might insist in comparing her to a diminutive cartoon miner.) Beast Boy kidded that she was unhappy as a direct result of the happiness of the place itself, but she knew that wasn't true either. (She knew Beast Boy didn't really believe it either – not really.) She was just pensive and a little surprised _because_ of the happiness of the place. And she knew that might make her look upset or unhappy, but although her mood _was_ a direct result of the happiness of the place, it wasn't as anyone might believe. She wasn't annoyed by it – she was confused.

Here was a place, a whole world for all intents and purposes, meant to celebrate children _and_ childhood. A place where 'children of all ages' could forget the ugliness of the outside world, where a mother wouldn't have to be afraid to let her little girl ride a carousel with a complete stranger and where kids could dress up like Cinderella and Peter Pan and play with plastic swords in the middle of a street lined with storefronts straight out of their sugar coated dreams.

A place where even adults were encouraged to forget the pressures of the everyday and remember what it was like to dream and pretend.

And although she could understand the concept – might even admit that she thought it was a nice idea if she were pressed – she was confused by it, too. Not because she didn't know what it was all about, but because she wasn't sure how to react to it.

It seemed that everyone acted differently here, as if there really were some kind of magic in the very air. Beast Boy was acting as if he were ten years younger, Cyborg had apparently decided to eat at least one of everything the ark had to offer, and Star…well, Star was the only one who wasn't acting any differently, really. But even Robin, with his affinity to rules and doing things 'by the book', seemed more relaxed here. And she? Well, she had never wanted to smile as often in one day as she had in the first few hours of being in this place.

And ultimately, that was really why she seemed concerned and pensive. It was why she looked no different standing in line for a ride than she would standing in the checkout of their local supermarket.

They all knew how to react, almost instinctively to a place like this. It had taken _her_ nearly half a day just to realize something different was expected of her at all. She was still trying to work out the particulars. She would never be as bubbly as Starfire or as enthusiastic as Beast Boy, but she _was_ enjoying herself (when she got used to the idea that the theme for the day was _just_ to enjoy themselves) and if a show of that would please her friends...well, she could do that...she thought.

"Lolli for your thoughts?"

Raven blinked and focused first on the multi-colored wrapped lollipop thrust in front of her, then, slowly, at the hand holding it and finally up to the pleasant, young face of the Disney employee holding it.

"Pardon?" she asked.

He smiled. "You looked so solemn," he said, crouching down on his haunches to be at eye level with her. "I wondered what could make such a look of seriousness cross your face in such a place as this, so I thought I'd bribe it out of you." He extended the lollipop again. "So? Is it working?"

Raven felt the desire to smile tug at her lips at the look of earnest hope on the guy's face. She didn't give in, though. It still wasn't in her nature to smile outright at strangers. "No."

The guy actually laughed and stood again, scratching at the back of his neck. "Well..." he thought, "Ah, I know!" he exclaimed, putting the lollipop in his shirt pocket and digging through his other pockets. "I've got some chocolate here somewhere," he said, half to himself. He paused, "A-ha!" he exclaimed, looking at her as he pulled out a wrapped string of pulled toffee. "That's not it," he frowned down at the candy, then held it out to her. "Laffy taffy?" he asked wryly.

He reminded her quite a bit of a subdued Beast Boy then and she actually found herself smiling – just a little. After all, hadn't her friends been asking her to be nice and be friendly all afternoon? "They pay you to do this?" she asked.

He grinned and nodded, crouching down in front of her on his haunches again, "Great gig, huh?"

"I think one of my friends would sell his kidney for the chance."

The boy (Jerry, if his name tag was to be believed) laughed heartily and winked at her, "Oh, they don't ask for all that much."

"Just your soul?" Raven tried.

Jerry put a hand up to his lips, "Shh...it's a company secret," he said in a stage whisper.

Raven raised her brows. "My lips are sealed," she promised in all seriousness.

Jerry nodded and looked pointedly at the space she was obviously saving. "So, you're the designated seat watcher, huh?" he asked, motioning around them.

She nodded.

"I'd say it's no fair that they left you here by yourself, but if they hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to talk to you."

"If they hadn't, we wouldn't have seats to watch the parade," Raven answered logically.

He laughed again. "So, where'd your friends run off too?" he asked. "Shopping?"

"Food."

"How many of you came?" he asked conversationally.

"Five including me."

"And all four had to go get food?"

At his look of surprise, she found herself almost smiling, "They really like food," she said. "Well, two of them anyway, and one especially..." she trailed off. "It's complicated."

He must have seen something on her face, a look of amused acceptance that prompted him to ask, "Why do I have a feeling your boyfriend and you have had that discussion before?"

Raven blinked in confusion. "Who?" She shook her head, realizing what he was getting confused. "No, Victor is the one with the food fetish," she answered. "He loves meat."

Jerry laughed at her phrasing. "And the others went to help bring in the haul, huh?"

She nodded. "Except Richard, he went because I wanted fries."

"Oooh, the fries at Casey's are really good," Jerry agreed.

She nodded.

"So, where are you from?" he asked, seemingly getting comfortable in the conversation.

Raven wondered if this was all it took to 'make friends'? She wasn't being particularly friendly, but she was answering his questions and not frowning at him. "Jump City, California," she answered.

"Oh?" Jerry raised his eyebrows and opened his eyes wide. "Isn't that where those teen superheroes are?" he asked.

She pursed her lips. She had nearly gotten over her wariness of being discovered but now she wondered if she shouldn't have lied about where they were from. "Yes," she said carefully.

"Have you met 'em?" Jerry asked, excited. "That must be so cool!"

"S'aright," Raven answered without really answering.

"I'm from Aimes. Aimes, Iowa, originally. You know what we have in Aimes?" he asked and waited, so she shook her head. "Corn. Corn fields, corn niblets, cornmeal, corn paste, corn husk art, corn bread – actually, the corn bread's pretty good -- and corn oil."

"No popcorn?" she asked.

He chuckled, "County I was born and raised in swears they invented it."

He sounded so wryly proud, she almost smiled.

"So you can probably imagine why Jump city having superheroes sounds pretty darn neat to me."

"They pretty much keep to themselves," Raven offered.

"That's not what I heard," he said. "I heard they tend to hang around just like regular kids."

She frowned, "That was before the riot last month at the mall."

Jerry nearly lost his balance and the grin split his face. "Wait—_riot_?"

"Long story," Raven dismissed, but at his continued look of interest, she sighed. "It wasn't their fault," she started. "They avoid going to enclosed areas on the weekend when there are more people around, but how could they know the local junior high was going to take a class field trip to the mall on some random Tuesday at Noon?"

Jerry laughed, "Say no more." He shook his head and removed the lollipop from his shirt pocket. "That story deserves this, here."

Raven took it and allowed a small smile to lift the corners of her mouth. "Thank you."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Oh, for cryin' out loud!" Cyborg exclaimed as he turned around and caught sight of Raven in a break of the crowd.

"What?" Beast Boy asked, "Didya drop my tofu dog?"

Cyborg shifted the tray loaded with food he was holding as if he wanted to find a place to put it, but didn't trust any of the places around him. "We've got another one," he said, grinding his teeth, looking pointedly at Robin who had stepped up to him at his exclamation.

"Oh! Rachel has made a friend!" Starfire enthused, noting what the commotion was about.

All four of them watched as the tow-headed teen laughed and Cyborg growled. "I—you—he--" he considered giving the tray to Robin, then Beast Boy, then going out with it in his hand and exhaled. "Rick, _do something_ about that, would you?" he asked. "If I have to put down my Casey's Out-Of-The-Park Jumbo Frank I'm gonna hafta kick his ass."

"On it," Robin confirmed, taking a cups of fries and a soda before heading out of the eatery.

If Jerry had seen Robin's approach, he might have been worried at the easy grace of Robin's smile in contrast to the look in his eyes. But, seeing as how Jerry was too preoccupied showing Raven the intricacies of a paddle ball which happened to have a Tinker Bell picture on it, it was as much a surprise to him as it was to Raven when Robin appeared behind her, reaching over her left shoulder to present her with the cup of fries.

"Whoa!" Jerry exclaimed, surprised, "You came outta nowhere."

Raven frowned at him, "He likes to do that," she said dryly. Then, "Why did you come from behind me when you were over there?" Raven asked, pointing to Casey's across from them.

Robin shook the fries and she took them but remained staring at him questioningly.

"The crowd pushed me around – didn't let me approach that way," Robin answered, taking the seat next to her. He looked up at Jerry and smiled, "I'm Richard, hi."

"Jerry."

Robin's smile brightened as he leaned back onto the palms of his right hand. "Thanks for keeping her company, Jerry, awful nice of you."

Raven turned to look at Robin who was looking casually, and outwardly pleasant at Jerry. She looked back at Jerry and confused, back to Robin. "Jerry was teaching me how to use one of these things," Raven said, showing him the paddle ball in her hand, the rubber ball on the string bouncing about blithely as she moved it.

Robin turned to her and smiled, "You wanted to learn how to use a paddle ball?" he quirked a brow at her, "That's cute."

Raven narrowed her eyes at him. "I only said he was teaching me."

Robin reached over with his left hand, still leaning on his right and picked at a fry from her cup. He popped it into his mouth. "These are good, you haven't even tried them." He reached for another fry and held it out to her. She quirked a brow and Robin turned suddenly to Jerry, "Oh, sorry man, do you want a fry?"

"Nah, that's okay, thanks," Jerry said, smiling a little. He looked away and noticed that the other of the Disney Cast Members in the street, who, like him, had the job of mingling with the crowd and keeping them entertained, were all starting to come back to the center of the street, starting to get the little kids back to their parents on the curb. He looked at his watch and back to the purple haired girl in front of him. "Parade's about to start in a bit, your friends on their way?" he asked Robin.

"Oh yeah, they're on their way," Robin confirmed, taking a sip from the cup of soda Raven had just drunk from.

"Well, then, I'll go back to help the others reign in the kiddies," Jerry stood and saluted Raven.

"Bye," Raven said, handing him back the paddle ball.

He smiled at her. "Keep it," he said. Raven inclined her head in a thank you and he leaned down a little toward her, "Hey, maybe I'll look you up if I ever find myself in Jump City, California?"

Raven opened her mouth to answer, but Robin leaned forward, his shoulder brushing against hers, "Sure thing, man," he smiled. "Rachel and I'll be glad to show you around! It'll be fun."

Jerry looked from Raven to Robin and back again, smiling. "Yeah, okay, so..." he stood straight. "See ya."

"Later," Robin told him.

"Enjoy the rest of your magical day!" Jerry gave them the party line and walked off just in time to spare himself the wrath of Cyborg as he approached.

"Was that dude leaning?" Cyborg asked as he approached.

Robin nodded.

"Good thing you got rid of him," Cyborg groused. "I didn't want to have to put down my food to do it."

"Wait, leaning?" Raven asked. "What are you talking about?"

"You mean Rachel's new friend?" Starfire asked, sitting down on Raven's other side and drenching mustard on one of her hot dogs.

"What new friend?" Raven asked.

"The one who was leaning," Starfire answered, taking a bite.

"No one's safe, man," Cyborg groused. "Not only do we have to worry about the damn people at the park, but we've gotta worry about the cast members, too?" He took a healthy bite from his hot dog and swallowed it before continuing, "Next thing you know, the guys in the costumes'll be trying to get a glimpse down her shirt."

Raven frowned. "If you're talking about Jerry--"

"He gave you his name?" Cyborg asked.

Raven frowned, "Can we get back to this leaning thing?"

"Oh, look, here comes the parade!" Starfire exclaimed as the first of the snow-globe floats rounded the corner, the uproar of the crowd thwarting any comment Raven might have made.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Fantasyland  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

After they flew over London along with Peter Pan, explored just a few of the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, decided that Snow White's Scary Adventures was really a bit too freaky to be a kids ride, that, as Star said, "the music that the benevolent ruler of such a happy kingdom makes is certainly fit for such a joyous reign but if he were a little less lenient with his subjects like that impertinent Duck, he might not have such problems with obedience," and Cyborg, Robin and Raven threatened madness to get out of riding _it's a small world_, again, it was 4 o'clock, the sun was shining, there was not a cloud in the blue, blue sky, and the temperature on Cyborg's internal thermostat said it was a sultry 98 degrees…in the shade.

In layman's terms, it was hot.

Even Raven was sweating, and Raven might have been inclined to insist that she was not equipped with something as undignified as a sweat gland. Still, even she had to admit that it was hot and that they could use some cooling off.

Which was why, of course, Robin was in the bathroom trying to keep his hair in shape, while Cyborg and Beast Boy both were in there trying to figure out the best way of keeping cool without disturbing the mechanical bits of the imagers that kept them from looking metal and green, respectively.

The girls, however, had a lot less luck, and emerged from the bathroom much sooner than the guys did, having been unable to find any method of cooling themselves down that did not require a big body of cold water (which they didn't have). The measly trickle of tepid water from the faucet (when they could get one – the women's bathroom was a veritable cat house of women trying to do the same exact thing Starfire and Raven were attempting to do) was insufficient to do much more than make their already sticky skin a little more wet.

All to no avail.

Oh, they felt cooler in the moment, but as soon as they stepped back outside the heat assailed them like an oppressive wave and even Starfire's enthusiasm wilted.

"It is not so very hot where we live is it, Rachel?" Starfire asked.

Raven shook her head. "It's the humidity," she answered.

"I wish I could take a bath," Starfire announced. "That always serves to cool me down when I am heated at home."

Raven nodded, absently, wondering whether it might be worth it to fight for a spot on the benches in the shade next to the bathrooms. She was so involved in trying to figure out whether the family of three that was currently seated on the shadiest bit of the bench was or was not going to stand that she didn't notice when Starfire walked a short distance away from her or even when she came back.

Ultimately, this was a mistake.

"Come, Rachel! There is a way for us to cool down!" Starfire enthused, grabbing Raven's wrist and pulling her away from the bathrooms.

Raven blinked and allowed Starfire to pull her, seeing nothing particularly cooling anywhere around them. "Where are you taking me?" Raven asked.

"The Grotto belonging to Ariel!" Starfire answered, smiling from ear to ear. "It is most refreshing!"

Raven blamed her ultimate predicament on heat induced lethargy numbing her mental capacities. It was the only logical excuse as to why she didn't realize exactly what Star was leading her into until she was smacked right in the chest with a cold burst of water.

She made a mental note to start paying more attention to where she was being led even as she tried to process the fact that she was now dripping. Off to her left, she found Starfire playing with several children, all of whom were making a valiant effort to be the single wettest child in the whole Grotto (maybe even the entire park). Starfire practically floated to Raven's side and pulled her further into what Raven was starting to realize was primarily a child's cooling off area.

"Are you not cooler?" Starfire asked Raven.

Raven couldn't argue. She was.

She was also wet.

Very wet.

Starfire pulled Raven under the cascading water from a fountain and Raven re-thought her previous statement. She was _sodding_ wet. She blinked under the spray of water and didn't even bother to pull her hair out of her eyes. What would be the point?

Starfire's laughter unfortunately brought Raven's attention back to her. This was a mistake. "Oh, you think this is funny?" Raven asked, serious.

Starfire nodded, "Most amusing!" Starfire never confused Raven's serious look for thinking she might have done wrong, so when Raven, quick as lightning, grabbed Starfire arm and turned them around so that Starfire was under the spray of the water, she wasn't surprised.

Laughing, Starfire pushed her hair out of her eyes and pointed, "You still look like a drowned snarfblat," Starfire said between laughter.

Raven wasn't sure what a snarfblat was, let alone what it might look like after drowning, but it didn't really matter. "But now you do too," Raven countered, smiling.

"Not as much as you do!" Starfire insisted.

"Oh, really?" Raven asked.

Their intelligent conversation was interrupted by a spray from behind Raven. They turned to see a little girl, about seven, spraying them with a hose. "Nyah-nyah, can't catch me!" the little girl exclaimed, sticking her tongue out and running off.

Raven and Starfire looked at each other and when Raven's eyebrow rose, Starfire smiled.

Raven definitely blamed the heat for the events that followed.

Not that anyone asked.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Dude," a guy about Beast Boy's age broke the silence that had fallen over the predominantly male populace surrounding the enclosure.

"That's _so_ hot," Beast Boy agreed, his jaw slack and his eyes wide in disbelief, the way he would be if he suddenly found himself face to face with a naked supermodel.

Cyborg came out of his shock at Beast Boy's words with an automatic swipe at the younger boy's head, knocking him out of his daze.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Beast Boy exclaimed angrily.

"Stop it!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"But it's..." Beast Boy motioned to where Starfire and Raven were playing with children while getting good and thoroughly soaked in the children's cooling off area called Ariel's Grotto.

"WRONG," Cyborg insisted, turning to Robin on Beast Boy's other side, "Right, Rick?" He frowned as he noticed that Robin was staring in much the same way the others had been. _'What the hell?'_ he thought, about ready to lay the smack down on him as well. Okay, so Robin showing interest in Raven was part of The Plan, but Cyborg wasn't sure he appreciated _anyone_ staring at Raven as if she were the last coca-cola in the desert. And okay, Robin was probably the only person who he'd be okay with…ah, who was he kidding? No one should stare at his little sister like that! Not even the man that was going to marry her if he had anything to say about it! Not where he could see it, at least! It was one thing to look at her like that in privacy of their own bedroom, but..._'I am NOT thinking this!'_ Cyborg told himself firmly. He would _not_ stand for anyone gaping at any of his girls like a landed trout!

He flicked Beast Boy in the back of the head again, "You," he told him, his voice no-nonsense, "Go buy a couple of towels over there," he motioned the store behind them. "You," he motioned to Robin but when the other boy still wasn't paying attention, he threw the bag he was carrying right into Robin's gut. Robin caught it on reflex, grunting at the suddenness. "Stop staring and go get them outta there," Cyborg told him meaningfully motioning to the men and boys around them staring at the show. Robin tightened his jaw and walked into the Grotto.

With one last glare from Cyborg and one last glance at the show inside the Grotto, Beast Boy walked toward the souvenir shop to purchase the towels. Cyborg turned to the several men still staring and flicked a napkin at the closest one, narrowing his eyes dangerously at him, "Move it along, son," he told the boy about Beast Boy's age, "nothing to see here." The man with him started chuckling and Cyborg glared at him, "And you..." he pointed at him, "...you should be ashamed of yourself, man, get outta here."

The man frowned, but didn't question the look in Cyborg's eyes and continued on his way.

He glared at the remaining men, "Do the rest of you really want a piece of me?" he challenged them in his Cyborg-booming voice. By the time Robin emerged from the Grotto with Raven and Starfire in tow (and only a little humid for the effort) Cyborg had managed to clear up the area from all the perverts and Beast Boy had returned with two towels. As expected, Starfire went for the towel showcasing the Princesses and Raven went for the dark purple and black one with all the villains.

"What did you two think you were doing?" Cyborg asked the girls adamantly.

Raven blinked up at him as she rubbed at her arms. "We were cooling down," she told him stoically.

"You seem displeased, Victor," Starfire said, coming up next to Raven. "As does Richard. Why?"

"Because you were both giving all those horny guys quite a show, that's why," Cyborg answered.

Starfire quirked her eyebrow. "So?" she asked innocently.

Beast Boy choked on his gum in laughter and Cyborg glared at him before turning to Raven who was combing her fingers through her hair. She looked at him, waiting calmly for him to tell her what the problem was.

"And I suppose you're fine with it that there was more wood around that Grotto than there is in most national forests?"

Raven raised a brow, "Rather crude, don't you think?" she asked, turning and walking away as she rubbed at her hair with the towel. "We should be going if we want to make the meet and greet with the characters at Mickey's House," she called over her shoulder.

"Oh, yes! And the Judges' Tent!" Starfire enthused, walking after Raven. "And the Princesses! They hold Court as well, do they not?"

Cyborg, Robin, and Beast Boy watched as two teens heading their way made the fatal mistake of staring and walking at the same time as Raven and Starfire passed them. They walked right into a standing trash can and toppled over in a chaos of trash and gangly limbs. Raven and Starfire walked on, oblivious.

"I think we need to get them dry shirts," Robin announced, starting to walk.

Cyborg snorted as he followed, "Sweatshirts..." Robin looked at him and he motioned to the neck, "...with high necklines...and hoodies."

"Hn," Robin agreed.

"Those idiots fell over..." Beast Boy was laughing as he brought up the rear. "You should really watch where you're walking, dudes," he called to them on a snicker as he passed them, still trying to get themselves together enough to stand.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Tomorrowland: Indy Speedway  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"You realize she's going to want to get each and every character's autograph now, don't you?" Raven asked, occupying herself with watching how Starfire flipped through her newly purchased autograph book with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald's scrawls across the pages.

Robin chuckled. "Well, I don't know that there are that many more character meet and greets left today, right?" he asked reasonably.

They walked forward in the line and Raven waited for the roar of engines of the speeding race cars to die down before answering him, "This is Disney World, there are _always_ characters around."

"So, Rae," Cyborg interrupted, sidling next to her. "You coming with me in the winning car, or what?" he asked.

Raven glared at him, "You wanted to put me in a hoodie in nearly 100 degree heat," she answered stoically. "I don't think I'm ready to speak to you yet."

"Aw, Rae, c'mon," Cyborg said pleadingly. "I didn't make you wear the hoodie, did I? It was just a joke!" he said, to no avail as Raven's face did not turn to look at him even a little bit. Cyborg looked at Robin for help, but he was just grinning. Cyborg frowned, "It was Rick's idea, anyway."

Robin's grin fell right off his face and Raven turned to glare at him, making him forget to walk forward when the line moved. "What? I didn't! I wanted to get you a dry shirt!" he defended. "It was his idea to go for the hoodie!"

"Was not!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"Oh yeah?" Robin demanded.

"Yeah!" Cyborg answered.

Raven rolled her eyes and stepped away from the squabbling teens, stopping next to Starfire. "I think I'll ride with Starfire," she decided.

Starfire squealed and jumped up and down. "You will let me do the driving?" Star asked.

Raven nodded. "Sure, Kori," she said.

Starfire squealed again and hugged Raven. "We will definitely hit their backside protrusions!"

Raven sighed, and couldn't help but smile.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Raven was going to die.

Nevermind that the little race car put on more noise than speed and that no matter how much Starfire pressed down on the accelerator (this was after she learned which was the accelerator) it went no faster than 10 miles per hour.

Raven was _still_ certain that somehow, she was going to die.

Maybe internal bleeding from all the banging around inside the thing as Starfire tried to actually navigate (this was _before_ she had actually learned to steer).

Maybe she'd be jerked out of the car and rather than out them all as superheroes she would crash against the asphalt...and maybe be run over by the annoying brat that kept bumping them from behind?

Could she heal asphalt burns?

Probably.

She wasn't sure, so she held on even tighter and turned to glare at Starfire as she twisted and bounced her way through another turn, laughing uproariously, head to the wind.

Her attention was caught by an arm waving wildly from next to them. She turned to see Robin in his little red car on the track next to them, waving and grinning.

She thought about asking for help, but then Starfire noticed Robin.

"Friend Richard!" she exclaimed, letting go of the steering wheel altogether to wave back at Robin.

Raven dove for the wheel and tried vainly to keep it on a steady course.

Starfire laughed, "Do you wish to drive, Rachel?!" she exclaimed over the sound of the cars.

Robin, Raven did not miss, was laughing.

Starfire started to stand up in order to switch places with Raven but Raven reached out with one hand and pulled her back down.

"Sweet Azar, I am going to die," Raven mumbled.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Tomorrowland: Astro Orbiter  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Raven's hair was still moist. The sun was hot enough that it was no longer dripping, but it was still wet enough to keep the back of her neck cool and she was incredibly thankful for it.

She was _not_ however, thankful for the fact that her shorts were still humid. Given, they were not a very heavy material were mostly dry, but it was a bit like walking around without having dried herself properly after a shower.

She hadn't minded the wet halter top, actually, as much as she had the shorts, but she _had_ intended to buy a dry one anyway. She might not see what all the fuss was about, but she didn't like to go about showing anymore than Cyborg apparently liked to have her show it. That didn't mean she wanted to be taken by the hand and practically forced into a sweat shirt like a five year old by the only brother figure she had ever known. Sure, she knew why he had done it and was a little touched at his protectiveness, but did he _have_ to pick the tee he did?

"Hey, look," Beast Boy called out, "Raven looks just like her shirt!"

Raven glowered at Beast Boy, but lowered her arms from being folded across her chest, anyway.

"Sorry," Beast Boy said laughing. "But you really _do_ look like Grumpy."

"Which would make you Dopey?" she asked as they walked into the line for the Astro Orbiter.

"Hey!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"She's got you there," Cyborg said. "Sorry, man."

"Then you'd be Hungry," Beast Boy countered petulantly.

"There _is_ no Hungry Dwarf," Robin pointed out.

Raven snorted, "There should be."

"So, you're Sneezy," Beast Boy said, filing into the elevator with the others.

"Man, that makes absolutely no sense at all," Cyborg told him.

"More like Doc," Raven offered, shrugging. "If any of them."

"I think Doc suits him," Robin agreed. "He was always checking up on everyone and acting like a father to the others, wasn't he?"

Raven nodded and Cyborg raised a brow at Robin, "Which leaves Bashful for you, Rick."

Robin frowned and looked back at Cyborg. "What are you trying to say?"

Cyborg grinned, "Just that you're Bashful..." Cyborg shrugged and continued walking. "You don't talk much about yourself and you don't like people to make a fuss about you," Cyborg answered.

Starfire's laughter brought their attention to her. "Which diminutive creature would I be?" she asked.

Robin, Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy all shared a look for half a moment, before turning back to her and unanimously declaring, "Happy."

Starfire clapped and laughed.

"Picture in front of the sign, friends?" A Disney cast member with a camera asked.

Raven wordlessly began walking toward him and handed him the photo card they had received at the entrance.

"Learning my young padouin is. Good, yes!?" Cyborg enthused in a really bad imitation of Yoda.

Raven rolled her eyes but didn't stop him when he put one arm around her shoulder and the other around Beast Boy standing next to her.

"Alright, everyone, on three say, 'Astro!'" the photographer prodded.

On three, even Raven called out 'Astro'. There would even be photographic evidence of a non-frown.

Robin's didn't even _try _to hide _his_ smile as he helped Raven into the space ship waiting for them.

"What?" Raven asked watching Robin climb in behind her.

"Nothing," Robin answered and thought, '_Disney 3, Raven 2.'_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Tomorrowland: Carousel of Progress…  
__er...Buzz Lightyear  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Robin took one look at the turkey leg baking on the other side of the counter and decided he didn't need one.

"C'mon, man, how could you look at that delicious hunk of meat all tasty and well cooked and not want one?" Cyborg asked him, practically drooling.

"I think Raven's right," Robin said dryly, "I think I'm starting to get worried about you too."

"I would like to try the oversized leg of poultry!" Starfire told him.

"You're my kind of eater, Kori," Cyborg said, turning to the vendor. "Two turkey legs, my man," Cyborg told the cashier happily. "And one for the little lady!" At everyone's looks of disbelief and amazement, Cyborg laughed heartily. "Kidding!" he assured. "One for each of us," he leaned forward and winked at the girl next to the cashier, "I can always come back for seconds."

The girl grinned and went to fill their order.

Robin shook his head and grabbed the frozen lemonades they had already been served and walked to the stone bench cut out of a wall where they had left Raven. He found her sitting demurely in a corner of the stone bench, a family of four taking up the bench on her immediate right and a group of what looked to be college kids sitting on the bench next to them and along the top of the wall where their friends were.

Raven looked out of place but only because she was so calm, her eyes taking in the people around her and the flow of life as it passed her by. He watched her a moment as she looked at the people, her eyes shifting from the little girl riding on her father's shoulders to the young pair of lovers stopping to take a picture in front of the lake. She looked tired, but not as exhausted as he'd seen her after a full day of crime fighting.

She didn't look at him as he approached, but she must have known he was there because she wasn't surprised when he held the cool plastic cup in front of her. She looked up at him and at his smile, her eyes crinkled a little at the corners.

"I come bearing cooling gifts," he said.

She took the frozen lemonade and took a sip. "Is Victor getting his turkey leg?" she asked.

Robin shook his head, "Yeah...I don't know where he's going to put it..."

Raven did smile then, "He probably still has room for the All You Can Eat Midnight Buffet at the hotel."

Robin leaned against the concrete wall from which the bench was cut out. "You didn't tell him about that, did you?"

Raven looked at him in disbelief as she sipped at her drink. "Are you joking? The first thing he did was meet with the chef."

Robin laughed. "I worry about him."

Raven nodded. "That's what I've been saying." She noticed the fact that he wasn't sitting and started to scoot over, only glancing at the boy who she was scooting closer to in order to make room for Robin against the corner.

"No, that's fine," he told her. She looked unconvinced, so he smiled at her and in two quick steps, had climbed onto the top of the wall, letting his legs hang on either side of her so that she could lean back. She didn't.

He leaned forward and took hold of her shoulders, gently pulling her back until she was leaning against the wall his legs on either side of her shoulders. "I'm comfortable," he told her.

She looked up at him, squinting in the sun, "Showoff."

"Hey, anyone seen Garfield?" Cyborg asked as he approached, turkey leg with noticeable bite marks in one hand and soda in another.

"He did not stand to look at the legs of poultry," Starfire offered, somehow not looking as out of place as a skinny girl like her holding a huge hunk of meat should.

Raven shook her head, "He never came this way with me."

"Damn," Cyborg cursed. "If that boy makes me put away my turkey leg to go find his skinny butt I'm going to--"

"I think I know where he is," Raven interrupted, motioning to a spot almost exactly across from them.

The sign above the room read, "Tomorrowland Arcade".

"I'm gonna go find a leash," Cyborg declared. "THEN, I'll go find Gar."

Robin came off his seat on the wall as easily and gracefully as he got onto it and Raven simply stood.

"I think we should go get him, Vic," Robin told him. "Why don't you guys go save our place in line for the Carousel of Progress?"

"I thought we were doing the Buzz Lightyear thing?" Cyborg asked.

"Carousel is air conditioned," Raven announced.

"We get to shoot at things on Buzz," Cyborg challenged.

"Boys," Raven sighed. "Fine, Buzz Lightyear it is," she said, turning and heading for the Arcade.

Robin smiled, "We'll meet you in the line."

"It was not necessary for both of us to come search for Garfield," Raven said when Robin jogged up to her. When they stepped foot inside the loud, brightly lit arcade, her head began turning from one side to another, searching for a sign of the blond hair Beast Boy sported as Garfield.

"I figured two could search a lot faster," he offered.

"I don't really need to search for Garfield," she said, unconcerned. "I just need to search for Space Monkeys 10 and a half." She stopped as she caught sight of the drawings of the Space Monkeys on the side of the video game and could just barely see the form of Beast Boy's human guise playing it.

Robin smiled. "How did you know he'd be at this particular game?" he asked.

"He's been talking about the fact that this game has so far only been released in certain arcades for about three months." Raven sighed as if remembering how incredibly put upon she was. "He said it in the hotel last night, too." She stopped to look at him. "How he figured out that this particular arcade had the game, I'll never know."

Robin shook his head, "I don't remember."

She shrugged. "Despite my best efforts, some of what he says filters through regardless."

"You poor thing," Robin said without one hint of sympathy.

"Oh, hey guys!" Beast Boy enthused. "I'm almost at level 5, can you believe it!" He looked from one to the other and asked, "Is it time for Space Mountain?"

"Shouldn't you tell us where you're going before you go off, Garfield?" Robin asked.

"I told Vic!" Beast Boy said.

"Who was under the spell of turkey leg," Raven said monotonously.

"Okay, let's rephrase that," Robin started, "You should tell one of us," and here he motioned between Raven and himself, "when you're going off, okay?"

"Yeah, okay, no prob," Beast Boy said, unpausing his game.

"Let's go, Garfield," Raven said.

"Ooh! Time for Space Mountain!" he exclaimed.

"No."

Beast Boy stuck out his tongue in concentration. "I don't want to go on the Carousel of Progress, it's boring!" he declared.

Raven frowned. "Vic and Kori are in line for the Buzz Lightyear ride," Raven answered something less than enthusiasm in her voice.

"Ooh! Cool! We get to shoot at aliens in that one!" Beast Boy said, taking his attention off the game long enough to lose. "Aw, crap," he bemoaned.

"Are you done yet?" Raven asked dryly.

"Unless you've got any more change?" he asked hopefully.

"If you prefer to stay here playing video games than go on the rides, that's up to you," Raven turned around and started to walk away.

"Hey! I never said that!" Beast Boy exclaimed, following after her. "I'm going to sooo kick Vic's ass on this ride!" he said, hurrying beyond the door.

Raven sighed, "It's going to be a long day."

"Maybe we should let Vic get that leash?" Robin asked, following.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Tomorrowland: Space Mountain  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"This is so trippy," Robin said, looking at the walls of the inside of the Space Mountain building.

All of the Titans were looking at the optical illusion of the black sky with the stars that seemed to shift and move depending on where they stood, as if it were the strangest thing they had ever seen. Of course, it wasn't. Still, for some reason, they stared and were astounded.

"Trippy," Raven agreed.

"I do not feel the urge to fall over my own feet," Starfire said, confused.

Cyborg laughed. "Trippy, like messed up, whack."

Raven glanced at Starfire's continued confusion. "Strange or weird," she explained.

"Oh, I see!" Starfire said, then moved ahead as the line progressed.

Because they were in the Fast Pass line, this was a considerable amount.

They turned the corner and came up to the bridge like area before the loading platform, watching as a newly loaded car took off just under them.

"I'm riding alone, y'all," Cyborg announced as they all gathered to wait.

"What?" Beast Boy asked. "Why?"

"Because someone has to," Cyborg announced, turning to Raven before she could open her mouth, "Shut it!" he warned. "I'm the biggest one, and I take up the most space...I'm more comfortable riding alone."

Raven frowned, "Is this because I wouldn't ride the race car with you?"

Cyborg grinned at her and hugged her close impulsively. She withstood it with her usual grace. "Nah, Rae, c'mon, watching your panicked expression with Kori nearly driving you off the track was more than enough payback for that."

Raven narrowed her eyes at him. "Did you know that was going to happen?"

Cyborg smiled, "Considering no one's ever taught Kori to drive?" He pretended to think about it for a moment, "Yes."

"I shall do better next time," Starfire promised sincerely.

Raven scoffed, "Next time I'm riding with Victor."

All three boys laughed.

Starfire blushed. "So does that mean you do not wish to go on the _Space Mountain_ with me?" she asked. Raven looked at her as if she had grown another head. "I am much better at maneuvering space crafts than I am earth crafts," she offered.

"Rae's riding with me."

All four remaining friends looked at Robin. "Oh?" Cyborg asked casually, "Is that so?"

Robin ignored Raven's raised eyebrows directed at him. "Rae and I have a rollercoaster thing, remember?" he asked, casually. "We ride all the coasters together," he looked at her and raised a brow of his own. "Don't we?"

Raven met his eyes and could read them even in the semi-darkness. She smiled very slowly as she recognized that he still remembered the promise he'd made those months ago at the Jump City Carnival. "Yes," she answered. "I suppose we do have a rollercoaster thing at that."

"A 'rollercoaster thing'?" Cyborg asked, making quotation marks in the air. "Is that something like a growth thing, or a spring thing?" Cyborg teased.

"Richard taught me how to ride roller coasters," Raven answered. "So it is a tradition, I suppose."

"Wait," Starfire asked, "This is a coaster on rollers and not a space craft at all?"

Cyborg nearly spit out the gulp of water he had just taken. "You don't--?" he trailed off.

"It's not just a rollercoaster, Kori!" Beast Boy enthused. "It's _the_ granddaddy of all roller coasters!" he said excitedly. "It's mostly in the dark with some flashing kind of lights and it goes really fast and it dips and stuff," he was bouncing he was so excited. "It's the bomb, yo!"

"I do not like the coasting on rollers," Starfire reiterated.

"Even people who don't like rollercoasters like this one," Beast Boy told her.

"Does that mean it is unlike a rollercoaster?" Starfire asked.

"No, it means it's just fun," Beast Boy finished.

"But it is in the dark, yes?" Starfire asked. "What might be worse than the feeling of the uncontrollable coasting on rollers in the dark?" She looked from one of them to the others. "How could this be fun?"

"You don't have to ride it if you don't want to, Kori," Robin told her, seriously.

"Aw, c'mon, Kor!" Beast Boy cajoled. "You've gotta ride with me! Otherwise, I'll have to ride alone since Vic wants to go it alone! Please? Pretty please!"

Raven looked at Starfire and could read the uncertainty in her. She knew Starfire wasn't really afraid of rollercoasters, just that she didn't enjoy the experience. It wasn't about the fear for her. Still...

Raven glanced at Robin, expecting him to speak up to reassure her at any moment, but Robin didn't say what she expected him to say.

"You shouldn't do anything you don't feel comfortable doing, Kori," Robin said gently.

"If you want to get out of the line, I'll go with you," Raven told her. "I can get you out without anyone noticing," she assured her.

Starfire looked at her and smiled in pure gratitude, nodding and taking Raven's hand. "I suppose I can try it this once," she told Beast Boy.

"Alright!" Beast Boy enthused.

"Okay," Robin smiled at her. "So, Gar and Kori can take the second car in the back," Robin announced. "Vic can take the first car, by himself in the front, since he insists, and Raven and I can take the third car in front of the next set."

"Shouldn't I take the third car?" Cyborg asked. "Since I'm riding by myself, I mean?"

"No," Robin argued. "You shouldn't have to ride by yourself in a car with complete strangers behind you," Robin explained. "And Kori shouldn't ride in the first car if she's not certain she's going to like the ride, and if Raven and I take the third car, we wouldn't be as awkward in a car with strangers behind since we wouldn't be alone and if anything were to happen with Kori, we could see it too," he added, glancing at Raven for confirmation.

Raven nodded.

"You're good at those A sits next to B but can't sit next to F problems, aren't you?" Beast Boy asked in an accusatory tone.

Robin looked at him and smiled, "Yeah."

"Figures," Beast Boy muttered.

"So? Agreed?" Robin asked.

"Sure," Cyborg agreed.

"Yeah, whatever, I'm cool with that, how about you, Kori?" Beast Boy asked.

"If neither Richard nor Rachel mind going in a car by themselves?" Starfire asked.

"I don't," Robin assured her.

Raven shrugged. "Whatever."

When they were told to stand on their particular dots on the ground and await their ride, Robin passed the book bag with their things in it to Cyborg. "You carry it in front with you."

Cyborg took it and grinned at him. "See ya on the other side!" he called to them as he got into his seat.

Beast Boy and Starfire got into their seats easily enough, laughing and giggling as they figured out the procedure for strapping themselves in, but Raven paused for a moment, looking down at the seats.

Robin walked passed her, squeezing her shoulder as he did. "It'll be okay," he assured her, standing on the back seat, waiting for her.

Raven sat awkwardly in the seat and strapped herself in. She hadn't been worried about it being a rollercoaster before, so why was she feeling the small niggling sense of dread she felt before she tamed The Beast?

She couldn't figure it out until she saw Robin's jean clad leg slide into place along side of her. She had nothing to hold on to in this rollercoaster. No, actually, that was incorrect. She had the bar in front of her put there for such a purpose to hold on to. The specific problem was that she had no _one_ to hold on to. She could feel him behind her, separated by the padding and metal of the seat backing, and she had faith that if a situation should present itself that she could not handle, he _would_ do as he had promised back when they went to the carnival those months ago.

Still...she couldn't deny, at least to herself, that she would feel better if she could hold on to someone..._him._

_'Why?'_ she wondered. He could protect her just as well from where he was, he was still within grabbing distance should something go wrong.

His legs were brushing against her sides, he was that close.

She stared at his legs as he got comfortable and by the time the car hitched forward, clanking on unseen tracks into the darkness, her hands ignored the bars in front of her and clutched at his knees instead.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Tomorrowland: Transit Authority  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

By the time they came out of the Space Mountain building, the sun was nearly gone.

Starfire looked up at the sky, pebbled with pink and orange tinted clouds. "How beautiful," she breathed.

"Florida is known for its sunsets."

Robin turned to Raven and smiled. "You can't just say 'yes, Kori, it's a beautiful sunset?"

Raven turned to him. "Yes, Kori. It's a beautiful sunset," she said unemotionally.

Robin narrowed his eyes, but he was smiling, "Smart ass."

She opened her eyes wide, "Did you just call me a smart ass?"

"Me?" Robin asked innocently. "Why, no, of course not." Robin walked across the paved streets of Tomorrowland. "So, what's next?" he asked Cyborg.

"Well, the nighttime parade is in an hour, so we can go get seats for that, _or_," Cyborg said, peering down at the map, "We could take advantage of the fact that everyone's going to the parade now to ride the last rides we haven't ridden yet and catch the second showing of the parade after the fireworks."

"Stitch!" Beast Boy exclaimed in answer.

"I think that's a good idea," Robin told Cyborg. "By the time we catch the second parade, the park's about to close and there won't be that many people left in the park anyway."

Cyborg nodded as he folded his map neatly. Raven nodded and Starfire smiled their agreements, so Robin looked around them as the lights of the park started to twinkle to life with the dying light.

"So, what should we do first?" Robin asked.

"Stitch!" Beast Boy insisted.

"We still haven't done the Carousel of Progress," Raven offered.

Robin stopped Beast Boy before he could once again state his position on the level of fun the Carousel of Progress offered by pointing to an area behind Cyborg. "We could always do that."

They turned to find a chain of about four smallish blue cars lazily strolling along a track above the ground.

"That's the Transit Authority," Cyborg said. "I think it's just a ride around Tomorrowland."

"I don't know about you, but I could use something to sort of let me get off my feet for a little while right about now without waiting in a long line to do it," Robin suggested.

Raven nodded as did Starfire and reluctantly, Beast Boy.

"Transit Authority it is," Cyborg announced, folding his map and leading them toward the entrance of the ride.

The problem, unfortunately, didn't arise until they were already filing into the little blue car. The line had not been long at all and within moments, they had been presented with their turn.

Starfire climbed into the car first, sitting on the chair and smiling at Cyborg as he sat down next to her. Beast Boy followed him and sighed in relief as he got off his feet across from Starfire. By the time Raven walked into the car, Robin had already noticed the problem.

Raven, however, didn't until she started to sit down next to Beast Boy when she realized that there wasn't enough room left for Robin to sit.

The others noticed just as Robin smiled at them and moved to the car directly behind.

"Richard?" Starfire asked.

"No worries, I'll be right behind you guys, it's not a big deal."

A couple got into the car behind Robin's and in the moment his attention was drawn to the retro advertisements for far away places along the walls of the "Blue Line" of the Transit Authority, Raven stepped into his car.

Robin automatically scooted over so that she could sit down and when she did, he smiled in a bit of confusion at her. "Hello," he greeted.

Raven turned to him and actually smiled, just a little. "Hello," she answered.

"Funny meeting you here," he offered flippantly.

"Indeed," she agreed.

His smile turned into a grin. "What are you doing?" he asked. "It's dangerous to be moving from car to car after it was already on its way."

She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back, raising a brow at him the way she did to Beast Boy when he was being especially difficult about catching on to something that was blatantly obvious. "You don't think I'm going to let you abandon me to those lunatics, do you?" she asked, motioning the remainder of their friends in the car in front.

He chuckled and leaned back as well, "I didn't mean to."

"If I stayed in that car without you as a mediator, I would likely be highly inclined to toss Garfield off the side," she expounded.

"Of course," he said, the smile leaking through into his voice.

She sniffed delicately and turned her head to watch their surroundings.

A moment or two passed in companionable silence, watching as the beauty that was the Magic Kingdom at night sprawled out below them.

And then she leaned back. "I'm sorry."

Robin snapped out of his reverie to blink at her. "Sorry?" he asked.

"For back there," she motioned Space Mountain in the distance. "I shouldn't have..."

Robin noticed how uncomfortable she seemed and smiled. "Aw, c'mon, Rae, you don't have to apologize for copping a feel of my legs, I know they're hot. I've come to terms with--" he was interrupted from completing his boast by a sudden sprinkle of water across his face.

"Oh, apologies," Raven said, notably unapologetically. "I was trying to sprinkle myself," she explained, capping the water bottle once again. "Must've mis-aimed."

"Getting hot, are you?" he asked, cocking a brow.

"Mm," she answered affirmatively. "Must be all the hot air that appeared out of nowhere," she said innocently.

Robin laughed and wiped at the water on his face. "Well, Florida is known for its hot air."

"Hm," she said, noncommittally and turned her face away from him so he wouldn't see that he had almost gotten her to smile. He watched her for a moment, but when it became apparent she was inclined to watch as the people milled about under her side of the car, he turned to his side, just as there was a break in the scenery and a view of Cinderella's Castle, lit up in a nearly impossible shade of light red, came into view.

He smiled in awe and turned to Raven, only to find she was still turned away and was missing it.

"Look, Raven," he said, tugging on her arm to get her attention, too amazed by the sight to remember to call her by her civilian name. When she turned to him, he pointed to the Castle and was rewarded with a soft sort of smile as her gaze fell upon it.

When it subtly changed color into a sky sort of blue, her eyes opened wide for a moment and she looked at him, silently asking if he saw the same.

"Not bad for a plaster and plastic castle, is it?" he asked cheekily.

Raven decided she wouldn't deign that with an answer. "I think you got the side with the better view," she said instead.

"Who's stopping you from looking?" Robin asked.

"You're right," Raven answered, starting to stand with every intention of switching over to the seat across from him, which would then let her have full access to both sides.

Robin's hand reached out and took hold of her wrist before her knees could fully extend to standing so she fell back onto the seat with a sound of surprise.

She raised a brow at him and he shrugged.

"It's dangerous to stand up while the ride is in motion," he said, raising his own brow. "Don't you listen to that voice that talks when the ride starts?"

She frowned at him. "I think I can switch seats without incurring the wrath of Disney and certainly without putting myself in any undue risk."

"Best not to chance it." He smiled at her and slipped his arm behind her, taking hold of her shoulder and pulling her toward his side of the car, leaning his back against the backrest, giving her an ample view of the skyline just beyond. "Can you see now?" he asked.

Raven stilled for a moment, but then she looked beyond him and stared at her now unobstructed view. "Yes," she said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Robin answered.

"This is a really beautiful view," Raven allowed as she stared at the 'city' below them.

Robin smiled as he felt the mild Florida wind caress his face. "Hm," he agreed. "It's nice."

She looked at him, "Are you falling asleep?"

He opened his eyes and glared at her, "Of course not."

She smiled at his reaction and leaned back against the seat, their shoulders bumping as the ride entered a tunnel of sorts. She rested her feet on the seat across from them, looking around, relaxed, as they passed through the room with the small diorama of Walt Disney's original idea for Epcot Center.

When they entered another tunnel and everything went dark, he felt Raven tense beside him. He leaned in close to her to peer into the darkened room beyond the window along which they were passing. "I think that's Space Mountain," he said.

She opened her mouth to answer when a sudden scream tinged with laughter erupted beyond them in the room. "Did I sound like that?" she asked, humor tingeing her voice.

He chuckled. "Worse," he confirmed.

She sighed.

"But hey, it's okay," he assured her. She turned to look at him as they came back out into the covered tramway. "When you scream, you're enjoying yourself," he told her. "You only go silent when you're really--" he stopped himself from saying 'scared' and searched for an alternative.

"Scared," she said for him.

He smirked. "Yeah."

She nodded. "I know."

"_Tom Morrow...paging Mr. Tom Morrow," _the intercom of the People Mover said into their silence.

They looked at each other and smirked.

When they emerged back onto the covered track with the park around them, Starfire looked back, her mouth opened to point out to her friends how beautifully Cinderella's Castle sparkled in the distance. The words stilled in her throat however when she caught sight of her friends. Robin's arm was extended over the back of the car and Raven was leaning into the curve of his body, his arm, her eyes closed, and they looked so peaceful, Starfire found herself smiling in a bit of confusion. She didn't think she'd ever seen either of them look so peaceful before.

Robin's face was turned just slightly to the left, watching the scenery pass by but as Starfire watched, he must have seen something that he wanted to point out to Raven because he turned to her, mouth opened to speak, then stopped when he looked on her face. He smiled for a moment, then poked her in the arm with his left hand, speaking something to her that must have been teasing if the look on his face was any indication. Raven glared and looked indignant but she didn't move away and when he pointed at something just over his side of the car, Raven leaned even further into him, her hand unconsciously bracing on his leg just above the knee for leverage.

"Hey, Kori, what's up?"

Starfire blinked and turned away from the car behind them to look at Cyborg. She smiled suddenly, and answered, "I do not know what the material the roof is made of, Victor. Why do you ask?"

Cyborg chuckled, "I meant…"

Starfire smiled, "I know," she interjected. "I was merely…breaking a joke?"

Beast Boy laughed loudly.

"You looked really thoughtful or something," Cyborg tried.

Starfire shook her head and smiled. "I was merely contemplating how full of miraculous wonders this magical kingdom truly is."

Cyborg hugged her. "Yeah, sure is."

"So," Beast Boy spoke up, "Does that mean we can ride Stitch after this?"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Tomorrowland: Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"So the nice lady behind the counter says the best places to watch the fireworks are right outside here by those steps," Cyborg informed them, pointing out one side of the Café. "Or, next to the rose garden behind the castle itself, but she says that here is better because it doesn't get too packed and it's less awkward to look up at them."

"Way to go Vic for a successful recon mission!" Beast Boy enthused.

"Thank you, thank you..." he said setting his tray down across from Raven and starting to dig into his hamburger without further ado.

"So we've done Stitch--" Robin started.

"Most unpleasant life form..." Starfire added pensively standing to go in search of more condiments.

"The Carousel of Progress," Robin continued.

"Sooo boring!" Beast Boy thought to reiterate.

"Dude," Cyborg agreed.

"You seemed to enjoy yourself, Victor, during the future scene."

"I was laughing in incredulity," he explained.

"Well, if nothing else, it was interesting to learn what people imagined the future to be like," Raven mused.

"Anyone else _still_ have that song stuck in their heads?" Cyborg asked.

"There's a great big beautiful tomorrow!" Beast Boy sang off-key.

"Shut up!" Cyborg told him, "or it'll never go away!"

Beast Boy grinned mischievously and began again, "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow!" Unfortunately, he was still off-key.

"Somebody stop him," Raven deadpanned.

"Shining at the end of every day!" Beast Boy continued.

"Victor," Raven started, extending a hand to him. "The sock, please."

"Hey, can I help it if the song's catchy?" Beast Boy defended.

"Cheesy?" Robin asked. "Why, yes it is."

When Starfire sat down next to Raven, setting her newly acquired packs of mustard on her tray and began humming the song as well, Raven calmly put down her chicken finger and started to stand up. Robin's hand on her shoulder made her pause, and when he gently pushed her back down, she heaved a sigh.

"So, as I was saying," Robin continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Should we go stake out seats for the fireworks after dinner or is there something else you guys want to do?"

"I think we should go get seats for the fireworks show," Cyborg announced.

"I agree," Raven added.

"Okay! Let's go now!" Beast Boy enthused, finished with his personal cheese pizza.

"Oh!" Starfire exclaimed, drenching her last two chicken fingers with mustard, then stuffing them hurriedly into her mouth.

"Kori!" Robin exclaimed, surprised. "Don't choke, we can wait!"

Starfire grinned at him and chewed and swallowed and chewed some more.

"And _I_ worry you?" Cyborg asked Raven.

Raven nodded, "She worries me too."

Starfire finished chewing and swallowing under the watchful eyes of her friends and when she was done, she smiled brilliantly. "I am ready!" she exclaimed.

"Why haven't we ever entered her in an eating contest?" Raven asked.

"Great, let's go!" Beast Boy stood up next to Starfire.

"I don't know where you're going, string bean, but I'm not done yet," Cyborg said, chewing into his burger.

"Neither am I," Raven added, biting into one of three remaining chicken strips.

Robin took another bite of his hamburger and let that speak for him.

"Aw, man!" Beast Boy whined, plopping back down onto the seat. "You guys are so _sloooow_!"

"Why don't you go find us a spot, Gar?" Raven asked.

"You think that's wise?" Robin wondered.

"It's right out there," Raven said, pointing in the general direction.

"Yeah, what kind of trouble can they get into...?" Cyborg trailed off before he could finish. Neither Raven nor Robin needed to answer the unfinished question. Cyborg wolfed down the last of his burger in two bites, took his fries and soda and stood up, "Alright, let's go."

When the others were gone, a chicken tender halfway to her mouth, Raven realized that Robin was staring at her. She put it down and met his eyes across the table, "What?"

He bit into a fry and smiled, "Nothing."

Raven shrugged and found her attention drifting to the family of three seated to her left, of course, because the little boy, no more than three, was watching her intently. Robin watched as the boy smiled and raised a hand to her. Raven raised a hand to him back.

"You know, when you don't frowning and scaring them, you really are a kid magnet," Robin mused.

"I think I'm starting to realize that," Raven agreed. "Although I don't know why."

"I think it's because you look at them," Robin suggested.

Raven raised a brow, "Many people look at children."

Robin smiled, "Not the way you do." At her continued raised brow, he shrugged. "I can't explain it, but you look at them like you're wondering what they're thinking. Most adults don't. They look at children like they're cute little pets, not their own individual people. You don't." Robin shrugged again. "I bet they sense that."

"Hm," Raven said noncommittally, finishing off her food.

The family stood up and walked away, the little boy waving shyly at Raven again. Raven's eyes followed their exit.

"Did you ever come here when you were a child?" she asked, out of the blue.

Robin was surprised from taking his last bite of burger. It took him a moment to process what she had said. "I think I did, but I don't remember."

"You think?" she questioned.

He nodded. "When I was about 9, I found a picture of my mother holding me on her lap on the monorail. I was about three in the picture." He paused for a moment and focused on soaking his fry with ketchup, but when he looked up at her and found her eyes attentively on him, he surprised himself by continuing. "She said that the Circus had stopped here one summer for a few weeks and on their day off, mom and dad brought me here with a few other families from the circus."

"And you remember none of it?"

He shook his head. "I was too small and we never came back."

"Garfield and Victor," Raven said pensively. "They both remember this place."

Robin nodded. "I know."

"Now I'll remember this place, too." Raven looked at Robin. "We both will."

Robin smiled at her and leaned across the table a little bit. "Have you enjoyed yourself today, Rae?"

Raven's lips fought with a smile and lost. "I have."

He leaned back in his seat, "Good."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Wishes  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

There was a sense of expectation, even in the smallish crowd around them where they sat on the steps leading down to a closed off seating area.

"It's Spring Break week," Cyborg was saying on her other side. "If I would've known that..."

"The lady in the store inside the castle said there was like sixty thousand people in the park today," Beast Boy reminded them.

"And sixty percent of _those_ are horny college kids," Cyborg groused.

Raven rolled her eyes but in the darkness she wasn't sure Cyborg could see it. She drank from her bottle of lukewarm iced tea instead of commenting. She caught sight of Starfire's profile from her place on the step below her. She leaned forward. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Starfire looked up at her in surprise, "Wrong?"

"You look..." Raven trailed off, searching for the word, "...sad."

Starfire smiled, but it was not her usual ray of brightness. "Perhaps I am a little," Starfire confessed.

Raven frowned, "Why?"

"The day is almost over," Star answered.

'_Typical Star_,' Raven thought and smiled a little. "But our vacation is not over," Raven pointed out. "We still have six more parks and seven more days left," she added and tried to keep her internal cringe out of her voice.

Starfire nodded and smiled somewhat bittersweetly. "But no more todays," she answered.

Raven paused as she thought and might have answered if it wasn't for the sudden lowering of the light all around them, leaving only the castle as a shining beacon. The crowd around them hushed and every face looked up.

Robin leaned over Cyborg at her right and seeing he had Raven's attention, tapped on Starfire's shoulder. "Pay attention to the point of the tower," Robin whispered.

Raven raised a brow, but at his look of insistence, she turned her head to stare up at the castle, her attention focused on the peak.

Robin's gaze lingered on her for a moment after he made certain she was looking, then lowered to find Starfire's eyes still on him. She appeared to be deciding whether or not to believe him, and he frowned. "What's wrong?" he whispered.

She smiled suddenly, "How do you know what will happen from the Tower?" she asked.

"I don't," Robin answered, grinning. "I heard some guy next to me tell his little girl to focus on the tower." He shrugged.

Starfire grinned and turned to look at the castle again.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

The show began with some voice she didn't recognize waxing poetic on wishes coming true if you wish upon a star, the first of the fireworks popping behind the glittering castle as the lovely voice began singing, but she wasn't really listening. She was too busy watching as the little girl in her father's arms just down and to the left from her looked up at the castle in awe. Then a voice she did recognize, despite her limited instruction in such things, as Jiminy Cricket from _Pinocchio_ spoke.

"_I'll bet a lot of you folks don't believe that, about a wish coming true, do ya?"_(2)

Beast Boy jabbed her in the side and looked meaningfully at her. She narrowed her eyes at him which resulted in him smiling sheepishly and looking back at the castle.

She had been thinking that she didn't exactly believe it about a wish coming true, but she didn't need Beast Boy to jab her in the ribs to make the point. She was a skeptic, they all knew that.

Still, when Tinkerbell's light flashed at the peak of the Castle Tower and she flew down from the top to an unseen destination, Raven gasped, even though she knew it was a special effect of some sort. When she looked to her right, she found Robin's eyes already on her.

He smiled at her and the explosion of fireworks in front of them brought her eyes back to the show as the loudspeakers continued to play music and the various Disney characters spoke about their wishes.

"_No request is too extreme..."_ Jiminy said in between wishes.

And not even Raven could keep the amazement off her face as the fireworks seemed to dance in time to the beautiful music and when Jiminy told them how, _"Sometimes wishes can be granted in the most unexpected ways,"_ Raven couldn't help but wonder about her own wishes.

The ones she'd had as a child, even though she had determined not to have any and the ones she hadn't admitted to having even while a Titan even after they had been granted.

She had wished for friends when she was a child. She looked around herself, at Starfire's face illuminated brilliantly by the flashing spots of color and by her own joy, at Cyborg's sincere enjoyment of the experience, Beast Boy's naked amazement and Robin's peace. She glanced down at the t-shirt she wore, and her lips relaxed in one of her rare almost-smiles. She _had_ been granted that wish in the most peculiar, unexpected way. She had even been granted more than what she ever thought she might. Certainly more than what she deserved.

When the Blue Fairy reminded them that, _"we must always believe in our wishes, for they are the magic in the world,"_ Raven felt goosebumps along her arms and just barely resisted a shiver. It was so much like what Azar had told her when she was young about the true nature of magic.

She had forgotten that; until the Titans had reminded her. She had forgotten how powerful pure hearted wishes could be until they had done the impossible – saved her and believed in her and brought her back from her own personal hell.

"_Like a bolt out of the blue / fate steps in and sees you through. When you wish upon a star, your dreams...come...true!" _

Raven watched in awe as the fireworks spread across the sky behind the castle and thanked Azar for granting her wish. For giving her friends who accepted her for what she was and loved her anyway, for helping her best her demons, for helping her deny the prophecy of her birth and most of all, for giving her hope.

Robin had told her once that she was the most hopeful person he knew, but if that was true, it was because of them. Before, it wasn't hope so much as fear, responsibility...

She had never even known what hope felt like until she learned to believe that Robin wouldn't let her down. Even when she thought she was saying goodbye to them forever...

When she gave them her power, it was because she believed that they would be able to find a way to use it to save the world.

She never _hoped_ that they'd find a way to save her...

But Robin did.

She didn't know what hope looked like until she saw it reflected like determination in his eyes.

Robin.

She looked at his profile as he sat on the other side of Cyborg, looking up at the fireworks. Why had he saved her?

"_...wishes can come true if you believe in them with all your heart!"_ the Cricket assured his listeners.

And as Raven turned back to watch the final burst of brilliant wonder, she couldn't help but wonder what part of her wishing had brought her Robin?

And as the last of the fireworks lit the sky, Jiminy Cricket's question echoed in her mind, _"See what a little wishing can do?"_

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__Main Street, USA: Shopping  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Hello."

Raven turned from her inspection of the wares on display and looked at the man-boy who had obviously directed a greeting at her.

Her first instinct was to give him the look she knew effectively communicated the question, 'why are you talking to me?' without her having to utter a single syllable, but then she remembered the insistence of the others that this was a place where people often came up to you and struck up conversation so she should be _"nice"_.

So, rather than simply walking away, she made a conscious effort _not_ to frown, and nodded, once, in something resembling a greeting.

_Then_, she walked away.

This left the rather good looking young man staring after her in a confusing mix between a smile and a frown. He wasn't quite sure whether she had just dismissed him outright, or teased him.

"Dude, don't even go there," Beast Boy said, walking passed the man with a consoling shake of the head as he walked by.

"Garfield," Raven greeted as Beast Boy stood next to her, making facial expressions like he thought she was sharing some insider knowledge with him, which she was not.

"That guy was _soo_ leaning," Beast Boy said in something just slightly more subtle than a stage whisper.

Raven looked at him in mild surprise. "What guy?"

Beast Boy laughed. "That's great. Some guy was macking on you and you didn't even notice!" he said, laughing as he walked away.

Raven blinked after him. '_Didn't Cyborg mention this 'leaning' thing before?' _she wondered.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Later, as she considered between the malt balls and the peanut clusters, she glanced absently at the door just as Robin was making his way through the crowd toward her. She looked back at the chocolate packages on display in front of her and decided on the malt balls just as Robin reached her side.

"Vic's settled with the packages right along Main Street," he informed her. "He almost fought it out with an old lady for the spot just in front of Casey's, but I talked him out of it before she brandished her walker."

Raven smirked, "Aren't they closed already?"

Robin tried to look serious, but he couldn't help but let a bit of a smile show through, "He said he could still smell the hot dog residue."

Raven sighed and moved along the wall, wondering whether she should take the chance of buying some jelly beans for Timmy and dealing with his sugar high afterward.

"Where're Kori and Gar?" Robin asked, following her as she stopped to inspect the character shaped sugar cookies.

"I saw Garfield last as I stood in front of the glass case with the candied apples over there," Raven turned around and pointed. "Kori was watching as they pulled toffee over there," Raven turned and pointed in the other direction. She looked back at the cookies. "Jellybeans or Sugar Cookies?" she asked.

Robin blinked at her. "What?"

"Which do you think induces less of a sugar high?" she clarified.

Robin thought, "I don't know."

Raven looked at him in mild surprise, "There is something _you_ don't know?"

Robin smirked, "Give me a computer and five minutes and I could find out for you, but off the top of my head?"

"Which helps me _how_ right now?" she challenged.

"Sugar cookies," he answered.

She raised a brow, "I thought you didn't know?"

He smiled. "I don't," he said, shrugging, "but they taste better than jellybeans."

"You're no help," she said, taking the cookies anyway.

Robin looked around at the confectioners, "Hey, don't you think it's dangerous not knowing where those two are?"

Raven opened her mouth to comment, but paused as a loud clapping was heard from the direction of the toffee station. Raven looked up from the brownies and met his eyes. Without a word, they turned and found the crowd around the toffee station, making their way through it to stop in front of the glass counter separating the actual pulling area from the rest of them.

"Friends!" Starfire called out from behind the counter, waving at them and then laughing joyously when she lost the rhythm of the toffee she was being taught to pull. The crowd laughed with her as the toffee went from string to ball.

When Robin registered that Starfire _was_ wearing a white apron with her hair _was_ hidden under a big fluffy baker's hat, and that she _was_, actually fighting with a string of toffee much to her own (and the crowd's) amusement, he laughed.

Raven smirked.

"This is _glorious, _friends!" she called out to them. "Come!" she beckoned. "Come try the pulling of the candy, Rachel!"

Raven held her hand out to Robin, "Give me the camera."

Robin smiled and dug in the back back for the digital camera.

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__Main Street, USA: Spectromagic  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

They had been seated and waiting for the parade to start for a good five minutes. Not a particularly lengthy amount of time in the general scheme of things, but when Robin tried to ignore Raven as she delicately sucked on a lollipop, five minutes seemed like an eternity.

"I never would have pictured you as a lollipop person," he said finally, in the hopes that getting her talking would divert both their attentions from the candy.

She removed the multi-colored globe from her mouth, leaving her lips and tongue tinged red in its wake. "Neither would I." She held up the lollipop to her line of sight and looked at it, considering. "I do not know that I am, actually," she confessed.

"You don't like it?" he asked, somewhat hopefully.

"Its taste is adequate," she replied. "But the concept of having to work for it is rather illogical and tiresome."

"It's busy candy," Robin answered.

"Pardon?" she questioned.

"It keeps you busy, keeps your mouth occupied, like gum."

Raven thought about it for a moment. "Maybe we should give one to Gar?" she wondered, glancing at where he was currently chatting up some girls who had the misfortune of sitting next to him.

Robin smirked and was about to answer when she placed the candy back inside her mouth. "When did you even buy that?" he asked, suddenly. She raised a brow. "I didn't see you pick it up."

"I doubt you saw every piece of merchandise I bought, Richard," she answered speaking around the candy.

He didn't argue with her. "You didn't buy that in the candy store we were just in, though." He was with her when she paid. He knew she hadn't bought a lollipop. He would've remembered.

"No," she answered. "I didn't buy it at all."

"No?" he raised a confused brow. "Then…?"

"That guy gave it to me," she answered.

Robin's expression darkened, just a little. "Who?" he asked.

"The guy," she said. "The one talking to me before the parade this afternoon…" she thought for a moment. "Jerry?" she wondered. "I think that was his name."

"Oh," Robin said. "You mean the guy flirting with you this afternoon before the parade."

Raven glanced sideways at him. "Flirting?" she asked. "He was just talking to me."

Robin nodded, looking at where Cyborg and Starfire were talking with the cart vendor in the middle of the street, trying to find Starfire one of the glowing fluorescent necklaces she had seen other people sporting. "He was flirting with you."

Raven sighed and the exasperation in it caught him by surprise. "I am seriously beginning to believe that with the exception of Kori, all of you believe that anytime a male of the species speaks to either of us, he is _flirting_." He looked at her and she took her lollipop out of her mouth to better speak her point. "He was doing no more than the old man did in the morning when he tried to get me to smile."

"No, he was doing more," Robin insisted.

"How can you tell?" she asked, still frustrated. He was simply conversing, asking me why I was so serious and then from what I understand, typical small talk – where I was from, what it was like there, whether I was enjoying myself…" she trailed off meaningfully. "How is that flirting?" she asked. "You weren't even around during most of the conversation," she pointed out logically.

Robin looked at her as if she was asking a very stupid question, "I didn't have to hear it," he argued. "I could tell by his body language." Raven raised a brow. "Well," he searched for a way of explaining it to her, "he was _leaning_."

Raven raised an eyebrow as if he were daft. "Of course he was leaning," she replied. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to hear him."

"No, he wasn't leaning so you could hear him, he was _leaning_ because he was interested," Robin insisted.

Raven's look of incredulity increased. "How can you tell the difference?" she wondered aloud.

Robin sighed and smiled. "Never mind, Rae."

"No," she insisted. "I need to know."

"It isn't important," he tried.

"Obviously, it is," she argued. "Victor has mentioned it, Garfield mentioned it just a little while ago, and even Kori'ander recognized it this afternoon. Does everyone know about this _leaning_ distinction except for me?" She pointed at him with the lollipop, "And how, exactly, is this leaning associated with flirting?" she pressed. "And how can one tell when the leaning is just for practical purposes such as hearing the person you are speaking to or being heard and when it is for flirtatious purposes? Is there some sort of guide book you Earth children are given when you reach a certain age as a type of rite of passage?" she asked, growing increasingly more exasperated.

"There is no real way of explaining it," Robin said, awkwardly. "It's just a feeling you get."

She nodded as if she finally understood, and the lollipop went back into her mouth, finding a niche between teeth and right cheek while she spoke. "It's illogical and senseless," Raven countered. "_That_ is why there is no way of explaining it."

"Illogical?" Robin shrugged. "Maybe, but that doesn't make it any less real that most people recognize _leaning _as a way of showing interest through body language."

"Yes," Raven said. "Interest in actually hearing what I say during a conversation."

"No," Robin argued. "Interest in you romantically."

"That is impossible," she insisted.

"Why would it be?" Robin questioned.

"Because he was not speaking of anything romantically inclined."

"He doesn't have to speak of anything _romantically inclined,_" Robin assured her. "He just has to show interest with his body language, which he _was_ doing."

"Which brings me back to my initial question," Raven said. "How am I supposed to know that distinction?" she questioned.

"Well, you were encouraging him," Robin pointed out.

Raven raised both her brows in instant amazement. "You cannot have it both ways, Boy Blunder," she said, surprised enough to slip into her nickname for him despite being in public. "Either I ignore people's advances for conversation or I do not."

"Did you _want_ to speak to him?" he asked.

Raven exhaled. "_You_ wanted me to be friendly," she reminded him.

"Not _that_ friendly."

"I do apologize," she countered, her tone heavy with sarcasm. "I seem to have misplaced my 'friendly-meter'." She looked at him, very close to glaring. "Do you want to give me some hand signals so that I can know when I'm being _overly_ friendly?"

Robin watched her and knew she was right. There really was no reason for her to know about the subtle flirtations. She had a very limited set of experiences when it came to 'normal' human interactions, after all. It was something he should have known, but which was quite a bit of surprising revelation anyway.

A guy could subtly flirt with Raven until he was blue in the face and she probably just _wouldn't_ get it.

"You're right," Robin said seriously. "I'm sorry, Rae," he smiled at her, "I'll try to be more clear from now on."

Raven drew the lollipop back into her mouth with a decidedly unsatisfied air and stood up, joining Cyborg and Starfire as they perused the cart vendor's wares, coming back to their carved out seats along the sidewalk only when the Disney cast members started to clear out the street for the parade.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__Walt Disney World Monorail  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

As the train started, Raven shifted over on the seat and motioned Cyborg, standing near to her, to take the space she created. Raven raised a brow and slid over a little more, making even more room between Starfire who was wedged against the wall of the train and herself. He knew when he couldn't argue with her, and just sat down, shaking his head and chuckling.

"I was perfectly fine standing, Rae," Cyborg said. "You didn't need to go through the trouble just for me to sit."

Raven looked at him seriously. "I had an ulterior motive," she confessed.

"Oh?" he raised a brow.

"Hmm," Raven answered.

"What's that?" Cyborg asked.

In answer, Raven shifted and laid her head against his shoulder, his height preventing her from actually resting it _on_ his shoulder, even had Raven been the type to do such things.

Cyborg melted and grinned. "Well, why didn't you say so?" he asked, adjusting himself to make them both more comfortable as the train started.

"I thought I just did?" Raven asked, stifling a yawn.

"Poor Rae," Cyborg said sympathetically. "Quite a day we've had, huh?"

"Never walked so much in my life," she conceded.

Cyborg realized exactly what she meant and chuckled. "How about that time you and Kori got stranded in the desert?"

"We hitched," she reminded him. "On a chicken truck."

Cyborg laughed. "And you're saying today was worse than all that?"

"The walking," Raven admitted, "Not the experience."

Cyborg grinned as her words filtered through. "Wait," he said, craning to look down at the top of her head, "Are you actually saying you enjoyed yourself today?"

"Hm," Raven answered in an affirmative tone.

"And that you might want to come back...?" he trailed off hopefully.

Raven looked out of the monorail windows as the Magic Kingdom lights passed them by and smiled, despite the tiredness. "Someday," she answered.

"Like next year?" Cyborg prodded.

"Don't push your luck," Raven mumbled.

"Ah, well, worth a shot," Cyborg said, resting his hand on the top of her head for a moment.

Robin, watching them from where he stood in the middle of the car, smiled and surreptitiously took a picture. The flash drew their attention, however. Still, even though Raven glared at him, he did not fail to note that she did not lift her head from against Cyborg's shoulder. _'And it's Disney World for the win,'_ he thought, pleased.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
__The Grand Floridian  
__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

By the time they got to the hotel, bathed, changed, convinced Cyborg that the midnight buffet had already ended (considering it was _way_ passed midnight) and that no, they would not consider opening it for him even if he asked _especially_ nicely, and everyone was _finally_ settled down for the night, it was well after 3 am.

Still, despite how incredibly tired she was, Raven was awake. She could feel sleep tugging at the edges of her consciousness, and although her eyes were closed and her breathing started to even in that way just before sleep, she found it hard to turn off her mind enough to allow for sleep to claim her completely.

She had already meditated for the day, bringing all of her emotions back into alignment, readjusting her empathic shields after the emotional beating they had taken throughout the day, and all she felt as she lay between the cool sheets was the warmth of the sun still on her skin, the utter exhaustion of her muscles, and the slight throbbing of her feet.

She could sense that Starfire, sprawled at the foot of her own full size bed, was awake as well, even though she was sprawled out, head hanging over the side the way she usually slept.

"Raven?" Starfire whispered after a few moments of stillness.

Raven opened her eyes, even though she stared only at the ceiling. "Yes?" Raven spoke, her voice not a whisper, but low just the same.

"Did you enjoy yourself today?" Starfire asked.

"Yes," Raven answered simply and closed her eyes again.

"Raven?" Starfire asked again, in the same hesitant whisper.

"Yes?" Raven asked, keeping her eyes closed this time.

"Did you enjoy the iced cream from the Magical Kingdom of Mickeymouse?"

Raven smiled in the darkness at the memory of how much it bugged the Boy Wonder that no matter how much he insisted on her wiping her chin, he hadn't been able to make her. "Yes, Starfire, I did."

There was silence for a few moments and Raven thought that perhaps Starfire had asked all of her questions for the night and was content enough to sleep.

"Raven?"

Raven sighed. "Yes?"

"I love you."

Raven blinked for a few moments in mild shock while Starfire's words filtered through her tired, usually astute, mind. Starfire was always affectionate, and Raven had never doubted her love for them all, but Raven could not remember one time that Starfire had ever stated it so bluntly. If she were less tired, she might have come up with a witty retort to hide her surprise. As it was, Raven exhaled and nodded in the dark.

"I know," Raven answered when she realized Starfire might not be able to see her nod.

"And I love Robin, too."

Something inside Raven twisted for the briefest of moments, too quick to really put a name to, but enough for her to recognize its presence. "I know," she answered.

"I want you both to be happy," Starfire continued.

Where was this coming from? Raven wondered and where was it leading? "We are," Raven assured her, lacking anything more intelligent to say.

Starfire shifted on the bed again and as Raven's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could pick out an outline of her friend's form against the balcony doors, where, despite the thick drapes, some light still filtered through.

"I do not think I have ever seen you as happy as I have seen you today," Starfire mused.

Raven smiled, despite herself. "That was only because I was bullied into agreeing to show my emotions a little, that's all."

"No," Starfire argued, still in the same soft, considering tone. "Well, yes," she rethought. "But more than that. You were..." she trailed off, searching for an appropriate description, knowing this was no time to be lazy about her vocabulary. "...happier...every time you were with Robin."

Raven frowned. She was not stupid, even in her current, less than peak performance, state of mind. She could tell that Starfire had something in mind, she just couldn't tell what. "That's because he was the one that bullied me," she answered. "I had to look happy around him."

Starfire paid no heed to Raven's attempt at derailing the conversation and plowed on. "I do not think you _had_ to look happy..." she trailed off. "I think you simply _were_ happy."

Raven frowned even harder and sat up. "What are you talking about, Starfire?" she asked. "I know I do not go around showcasing my emotions at the drop of a hat, but I always _am_ happy whenever I'm with my friends, you know that."

"He looked happier with you, too," Starfire said, as if Raven hadn't spoken.

Raven got the sinking feeling of dread that this encounter might not end well. She had visions of assuring Starfire of her disinterest in _her boy_ as anything other than a friend and she fought back the momentary pang of anger at having to do so at all.

It wasn't Star's fault.

"Star..." Raven said. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Through the darkness, across the room, came a sigh. "I am happy when I am with him, but I think not like you," she spoke. "I did not feel the need to be constantly around him as you did--"

"I did not," Raven argued, the insinuation that she needed to be around anyone insulting to her strong sense of independence.

"But you were," Star insisted, something like humor in her tone.

Raven silently ran through the day in her mind's eye, searching for proof in her own memories of Star's assertions. "Star, I--"

"I love him," Starfire interrupted. "But perhaps not as you do and certainly not as he does you."

Raven shook her head. "I love all of you in the same way," she argued.

"Yes," Starfire agreed. "I think this is the way I love all of you," she decided. "But I do not think that is the way you love all of us. I think you love Robin differently." Her silhouette nodded firmly. "And I saw it in him, Raven. He loves you differently as well."

Raven frowned as it became increasingly clear what Starfire was trying to say. "I don't know what you think you saw, Star, but--"

"I saw the way in which you both seemed to...what is the word? Gravitate to each other, as if driven together despite your conscious will. I saw the way you smiled at each other and shared moments together."

"This is no different than the things Beast Boy and Cyborg do," Raven argued firmly. "Or the things you and I do," she added. "We share things we have in common."

Star's laughter echoed. "It is _different_."

"I don't see how," Raven insisted.

"If you do not know," she turned and suddenly, Raven could make out shadows on her face, could see the smallest glint of a smile, a flash of green in the darkness. "you will soon,"she assured her. "I know he will make certain of it," her voice was smiling again. "And when he does, I want only for _you_ to know that _I_ understand now."

"Understand what?" Raven questioned, realizing for the first time how determined Star could be outside of battle.

"I understand that there are different sorts of love," she answered. There was movement and before Raven could determine what Star was doing or where she was going, she felt the dip in her bed as Star climbed onto it. She took hold of Raven's hands and leaned in close enough for them to see each other. "And I want you to be happy, my friend," she said sincerely, "the way you have been today..." she smiled and squeezed her hands. "Always."

Raven tried to piece together Starfire's words, searching her memories for meaning even as Star crawled back to her own bed. The only conclusion she could determine Starfire was trying to get across, however, was illogical.

"It doesn't make sense," Raven decided aloud.

"It will," Starfire assured her.

Raven closed her eyes. "I think you're misreading things."

Starfire's laughter echoed in the room, "I always thought you knew Robin the best of all of us, friend, but perhaps in this instance, you are too close?"

"I think we should go to sleep," Raven decided.

"Yes," Starfire agreed. "It promises to be a long day tomorrow."

_'I have a feeling it's going to be a long night,'_ Raven thought and closed her eyes.

_**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**_

**Notes:**

(1) This is actually what they call the cruise. Most of my Disney direct references have come from a website, but that this is what the ride is called, I got from Wikipedia, I think.

(2) Okay, so I've been to this fireworks show, probably three times in the last two years. I'm vaguely familiar with it, but not enough to be able to quote from it exactly, _sooo _what I did was find someone who took down the transcript of what the show says. So, here's where I found it: Alright, I need another trip to Orlando Theme Parks to write _Wishes, II _now. Hee. But really guys, I know it's been a long time, and I'm sorry. bows And hopefully, it won't be so long for _Wishes_, _II_ because I know what I want to happen to that one and I don't think it's going to be this long, so hopefully it will come out sooner, but I think I want to take a small break from IOTaM for a bit...

_Estranged_ is on deck next. I hoped to finish it tonight...dunno if I will, but I'll try!

**Soundtrack:**

1. Someday My Prince Will Come, Barbara Streisand  
2. Somos Novios, Andrea Bocelli & Christina Aguilera  
3. The One, Shakira  
4. I Like the Way, Bodyrockers  
5. Let My Love Open the Door (to your heart), Pete Townshed  
6. Once Upon A Dream, Sleeping Beauty  
7. When You Wish Upon A Star, Ashley Gearing  
8. A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes, Daniel Beddingfield

**Extra:**

I know for sure that there are going to be several deleted scenes posted from this. I've got a partial list. I'll post that on emsscraps when I get back into the country. Look for it, k?


	15. XV: Wishes, II

**A/N:** So, here it is. Sorry for the REALLY long wait, y'all, but…um…life has been hectic, to say the least. This has not gone through all of the beta-ing it could've, but I put up a poll and it seemed more people wanted to read it even though it hadn't gone through the full Beta-Squad than those that wanted to wait, so here it is. It all it's imperfect 81 page glory. (Less pages than _Wishes, I_, but still…this chapter is quite a heffer.)

**THANKS:** to J.P. (Newpoint), and Aileene, who were the betas who were good enough to get this back to me. Leah got me back a few pages before her computer went kaput and she went internet-less, and those changes are incorporated here too.

If you reviewed the last chapter of this with a question or a comment that I need to respond to, I will respond to those through ff.n's review response feature. Otherwise, thank you to EVERYONE who has kept up with this story, and who has maintained interest in it, even despite the long intervals between chapters.

_xxxxxxxxxxx_

_**It Only Takes a Moment****  
Part XV: Wishes, II  
By Em**_

_"So this is what makes life divine…"  
_- Walt Disney's Cinderella

It amazed her to think that a week's vacation could actually make them more tired than they were after a two-week crime spree.

On their sixth and semi-final morning in Florida, watching the others stumble from their respective rooms in the morning and going through the motions of waking and becoming presentable was like watching a clockwork ballet.

Of course, it was true that she herself was not at her most graceful upon first waking and even less so with anything falling short of a solid six hours of sleep. However, by the time the others woke, she had already had at least a half hour of meditation and a bracing cup of tea. This made her at least capable (if not graceful) and groomed (if not presentable) by the time everyone else lurched into the living area, and so no one ever got to see her as anything less.

After the second day, it had become common to see them all half dead as they gathered belongings and packed the bag they would take into the park in lethargic silence. None of the Titans were big talkers first thing in the morning, and even Beast Boy had to have at least two Cokes before he was awake enough to follow them onto the busses that would take them to the park of the day without falling asleep mid-step, while Cyborg needed at least two trips to the breakfast buffet. Starfire had acquired a taste for coffee.

And considering they hadn't had more than four hours of sleep on average per night, only to wake up and do it all over again the next day, she was inclined to agree (perhaps for the first time ever) with Beast Boy when he had said that playing this hard was _hard_ work.

Yet, it had been the case that when they entered the park, all signs of exhaustion evaporated like dew in the hot Florida sun.

It was always the same, no matter which park they visited. During breakfast and the ride into the park they were obviously fatigued, their eyes half-closed, and speaking in barely coherent mumbles, but once the gates of whatever park they were going to were in sight, it was as if someone flipped a switch and the Titans suddenly turned _on_.

For her part, Raven would have happily stayed in bed if it had been just another Disney theme-park on the agenda for the day, but it wasn't. This was the last full day of their vacation and exhaustion or not, she had been looking forward to _this_ park all week. (Although she hadn't, of course, shown it. Much.)

She wasn't the only one, either. Even her teammates were already fully awake and they were only just walking through the pedestrian mall leading up to the entrance gate. After their first exhaustingly full day at Magic Kingdom, not even Starfire had been able to manage much in the way of speech or enthusiasm until the magic of whatever place they were visiting that day overtook her – usually, only _after _they walked through the gates. That morning, however, there had been a viable energy in their step, an excitement and anticipation visible in their demeanor, and all they were doing was walking toward the faux stone entrance to the _Islands of Adventure._

"This is _soo_ cool!" Beast Boy enthused, grinning as he spotted the Hard Rock Coliseum across the lake.

"Hey, check it out!" Cyborg chimed in, and pointed to where, in the distance, they could see the lighthouse that showcased the entrance to _Islands of Adventure_.

"I read that at night, it actually turns on," Robin offered as they crossed the bridge toward the gates.

"Aw, man!" Beast Boy complained, glancing around at the crowds of people around them, all milling toward the park's entrance and forming lines before the ticket windows. "Look at all these _people_!" he exclaimed, heedless that the people could easily hear him at even half his current decibel. "Dude, we'll never get on any rides if we have to wait for all these people to get inside before we do."

Robin produced tickets from somewhere on his person. "Did you really think we'd have to wait in line with the regular peons?" he asked.

"Awesome!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "You rock, man." He jumped around Robin. "How'd you get the tickets without us having to get in line?"

"That is why _I _am the leader," Robin answered, his smile mysterious and sage.

Raven smirked. "You bought them online, didn't you?" she asked.

"Shhh!" Robin stage-whispered, and she could see the laughter in his eyes. "Do you want to destroy the mystery?" He turned to the others and clapped, calling their attention. "Are we ready?"

"Yes, let's go! Let's _go_!" Beast Boy said as he pulled on Cyborg's arm, an unstoppable force determined to move the immovable toward the entrance.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
**_Port of Entry_**  
_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Once inside, Raven's gaze was drawn to her left by the distant cries to where she could see the green metal spirals. She had read that _The Hulk_ Rollercoaster was one of the fastest in the Eastern coast.(1) _'Could it possibly be worse than The Beast?'_ she wondered. The pamphlets had been suspiciously vague as to details.

"You're not _scared_ are you?" Robin teased, coming up alongside her.

Raven looked at him and raised a brow. "Pardon?"

"Well, you had this look on your face…" Robin trailed off and Raven raised the other brow to join the first.

"A _look_…on my face?" she echoed.

Robin was trying not to smirk, she could see it. "Yeah, like…apprehensive."

Raven scoffed under her breath and turned away, looking at where Starfire and Beast Boy were gaping into one of the windows along the Port of Entry. "I was not looking apprehensive."

"Yes, you were," he insisted.

"I was not," she countered. After a pause, she clarified, "I was looking intrigued."

Robin laughed and pointed at her. "What a liar!" he called. "I know your intrigued look and that was not it!" She frowned and he smiled even wider. "That was definitely your apprehensive look!"

She scoffed again and started walking away, Robin following. "Don't you have anything better to do than stare at my face?"

"No," Robin answered, and she looked at him in surprise for a minute before she realized that and she had heard a smile in his tone and she realized he was teasing her again.

She schooled her face into even lines and raised a superior brow. "If you're so bored that you have nothing better to do than look at me, you should have maybe stayed in the hotel--sleeping."

"And miss the chance to see you looking apprehensive?" he chuckled. "Perish the thought."

Raven's brows rose as she made a point of searching his features. "Has the sunstroke affected you already?" she asked. "We passed the infirmary just back that way," she pointed.

He laughed and probably would have said something but Cyborg came up behind them, putting an arm around each of their shoulders. "Alright, y'all," he grinned, motioning the stone archway above them with wide sweeps of his hands, while somehow managing to bring the others into a group hug. "Let the adventure begin!" he read dramatically.

"Yeah, yeah, adventure…whoo-hoo," Raven deadpanned.

Robin grinned and turned to Cyborg. "So, where to, Navigator?" he asked.

Raven watched Cyborg produce the fold-out glossy map he'd been given at the entrance and leaned in to look at it over his left arm.

"Map?" Beast Boy asked, coming up to them with Starfire in tow. "We don't need no stinkin' map!" he exclaimed loudly and in a bad Mexican accent. He turned with flourish to face the left part of the park. "I wanna ride _that_," Beast Boy announced, pointing at the green tracks of the rollercoaster in the distance. "Time's a wastin'! Chop, chop!" he started forward only to have Cyborg grab onto the collar of his shirt.

"Slow down there, Skippy," Cyborg said. "That's actually a bad idea."

Beast Boy pouted. "What? Why?" he whined.

Cyborg frowned. "Weren't you listening during breakfast when I explained Attack Plan Lesslines?" Cyborg asked.

"As you had a sausage on a fork in one hand and a piece of bacon in the other?" Beast Boy shivered at the memory. "I don't think so."

"Hey, is it my fault I'm ambidextrous?" Cyborg countered.

"May we do some shopping before the exploration of the Adventuresome Islands?" Starfire asked, her eye already on the Island Traders storefront.

"Didn't _anyone_ pay attention when I briefed the Plan?" Cyborg asked.

"We've already had to buy another suitcase for all of your souvenirs, Kori," Raven pointed out. "Any more and they won't let you take them back with you on the plane."

"They won't?" Star asked, eyes wide and moist.

"I suppose you can mail it back to yourself," Robin mused.

Starfire grinned and Raven glared at him, but he only smiled.

"So, we may shop now!" Starfire enthused.

Cyborg groaned and Raven stopped Starfire from leading her away.

"We shop at the end of the day, Kori," Raven reminded her patiently. "As we have been doing."

"Will we come back around to this Port of Entry?" Starfire asked. "Because I would love to explore the Area of Trade."

"Yes, we'll come right back through here on the way out," Raven assured her.

Grinning now that her principle object was assured, Starfire turned to the group at large. "So, which Island will we visit first?" Starfire asked.

"No one listens…" Cyborg mumbled.

"Seuss Landing," Raven answered. She shared an understanding look with Cyborg, who grinned proudly.

"Because that way, we go against the tide and have to make _less lines_," Robin explained to Beast Boy before the youngest Titan could complain.

"Oh, what wonderful logic, Richard!" Starfire enthused as she started for the right. "You and Rachel think of the best plans!"

"Dude, seriously, that's a sweet idea," Beast Boy agreed. "Way to go!" he added, patting Robin's back and walking after Starfire.

"Actually, it's Vic's plan Lesslines," Robin called, but the other two were oblivious, watching the street performers with awe as they passed.

"Nevermind, y'all," Cyborg said, laughing. "At least someone's listening," he put an arm around Raven and grinned. "Now, let's kick us some Dr. Suess butt!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
_**Seuss Landing  
Caro-Seuss-El**  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"I wonder what _that's_ supposed to be?" Cyborg asked pointing at the wood and plastic rendition of a furry brown thing with antelope horns and a small head.

"It's a Dog-o-lope."

Three sets of eyes looked at Raven in surprise.

"What?" she asked, slightly defensive.

"A what-o-lope?" Beast Boy asked.

"Dog-o-lope," Raven repeated.

"Doggie grope?" Cyborg asked, raising a brow.

Raven frowned at him and enunciated, "Dog. _Oh_. Lope."

"Dog-o-lope?" Robin asked.

"Teether loves Dr. Seuss," she explained.

"How wonderful!" Starfire jumped up and down and clapped. "Rachel is familiar with the wonderful Seuss-Animals!" Starfire turned big, curious eyes to Raven. "Which one should I ride?" But before Raven could profess to having no knowledge on the subject, she continued, "I wish for one which is not too wild, but not too tame…"

"You should try the pink one, Kori," Beast Boy suggested.

Starfire giggled as the pink one came into view. "What is that one called, Rachel?"

Recognizing the futility of claiming ignorance _now_, Raven answered on a sigh, "It's a Mulligatawny."

"Then, I shall ride the Mulligatawny," Starfire announced and went right for it as soon as they were allowed onto the platform.

"I've _gotta_ get a picture of this," Robin laughed, snapping a shot of Starfire on her Mulligatawny. He watched, amazed, as Starfire managed to convince Raven to mount the Cowfish next to her, with all due grace, of course, and despite her withering glare, raised and pointed the camera right at her. "Smile for posterity, Rae," he urged as he snapped the picture. Raven only sighed in deep forbearance and said nothing.

"Dude, this one's _fierce_!" Cyborg told them, on Raven's other side.

"I should so _totally_ turn into this next time we fight Johnny Rancid," Beast Boy said, laughing.

"Sure, disarm him with laughter," Raven intoned, her hands poised smartly on the reins of her Cowfish as if she were on an English fox hunt instead of on a non-existent breed that was, aptly, a mix between a cow and a fish. "That'll work."

"Look, look!" Starfire pointed out, overjoyed as she moved the head of her Seuss-Animal by tugging on the reins. "It moves!"

"Cool!" Beast Boy beamed, moving his animal moved as the ride gently glided into movement.

"He's easy to amuse," Robin said as he snapped a photo of their resident changeling grinning from ear to ear.

"And you're surprised?" Raven queried as he came and planted his feet shoulder width apart for balance right in front of her Cowfish.

"Nah…" he showed her the picture he had taken and grinned up at her. "But it makes for a great picture!"

Raven couldn't disagree, but she did realize he hadn't laid claim to an animal. "Don't see a Seuss-Animal that strikes your fancy?" she asked.

"Oh, they're quite fanciful," Robin answered, looking up at her, "but I think I prefer to play photographer this round." And as if to prove his point, he raised the digital camera and snapped her picture from close enough that all he would be able to get was her slightly frowning features. Winking at her, he turned to snap another picture of Beast Boy making like he was leaning into the Dog-O-Lope's neck to urge it onward, and one of Starfire petting hers in quick succession.

"Doesn't this thing go any faster?" Beast Boy asked.

"If I had two minutes with the engine it could," Cyborg grinned, an all-too-recognizable glint in his eye.

Raven raised a brow and Beast Boy perked up.

"Could ya?" Beast Boy asked.

"No warping the kiddie rides into death traps, Vic," Robin warned.

Cyborg groaned.

"You could always build a carousel at home," Raven offered.

Cyborg perked up at her suggestion. "I _could,_ couldn't I?"

"_No_," Robin said succinctly, sparing Raven a warning glare before turning back to Cyborg. "You couldn't."

"I think he could," Raven argued.

"No, he couldn't, Rae," Robin said stressing his words meaningfully. "There's no room," he explained.

"There's a whole east Tower – all it has is the game room Victor built last time," she reminded him.

"Oooh, yeah! On the fifteenth floor, just where it tapers off -- there's _a lot _of room!" Cyborg's eyes gleamed with plans.

Robin turned from Cyborg to Raven. "Do you see what you've done?" he asked her. At her raised brows, he explained. "You went and put ideas in his head," he charged.

Raven adopted an innocent expression and shrugged, turning away as if she had nothing to do with the entire matter.

Robin looked at Cyborg sternly and pointed a finger meaningfully. "No, Vic. Uh-uh."

Cyborg frowned. "Spoil sport."

Raven smirked at Cyborg who grinned in return.

Robin caught the exchange and frowned at Raven. "Do _not _encourage him, Rae," he chastised. Raven looked entirely unrepentant and looked up into the canopy of the carousel until the short ride came to a stop.

"Alright!" Cyborg enthused. "Next: _The High In the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride_!"

"Try saying _that_ five times fast," Beast Boy joked.

To which, Raven, of course, complied with little fuss or trouble.

"Show off," Beast Boy grumbled.

Raven was prevented from answering by the small child who tugged on Beast Boy's shirt and proceeded to say the name of the ride five times fast without any problems either.

Starfire clapped enthusiastically and the child smiled sweetly and blushed before walking off with a wave.

"I could do it, too," Beast Boy excused. "Just dun wanna."

"Sure…" Raven said, walking toward the next ride.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
_**Seuss Landing  
The Cat In The Hat**  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"What?" Robin asked as they moved forward in the lawn-like queue.

In front of them, Beast Boy and Cyborg took turns reading the projected passages on the walls for the six-year-old twins standing in front of them with their parents.

"What?" Raven echoed.

Robin quirked a brow and Raven smiled, despite herself. "I was just thinking that the Maulers would probably love this place more than they'd like Disney World," she answered. "Teether would be in heaven right here," she added with a small smile on her lips as the cars for the ride came into view. "_The Cat In The Hat_ is his favorite story."

Robin smiled at her and looked forward. "Well, maybe we can bring them here sometime?"

"I don't know," Raven mused. "I'm not sure the Islands of Adventure is ready for the Maulers."

Robin laughed. "You're right," he agreed. "Maybe we should wait to see if it survives Garfield first?"

Raven smiled at him, something, it did not escape his notice, that she had been doing more and more as the week went on.

"What about me?" Beast Boy asked, having heard his name.

"We're betting to see how long it'll take you to break something in _this_ park," Robin answered glibly.

"Hey!" Beast Boy whined. "That's _so_ not fair! How was I supposed to know you couldn't use flash photography on the _Great Movie Ride_?"

"Maybe because it had a sign that said, 'No Flash Photography'?" Raven questioned, deadpan and utterly serious. Robin and Cyborg snickered and Starfire raised a hand to her lips, but her eyes gave her amusement away.

"And I was supposed to see that _how_?" Beast Boy asked defensively.

"Well, you might've gotten a clue when the ride guy said, 'no flash photography' as we got on the car," Cyborg added.

Beast Boy opened his mouth to argue the point further, but the boy twin pulled on his shirt.

"Gah-field, your turn!" the boy insisted.

"At least you appreciate me, little buddy, don't you?" Beast Boy asked the little boy.

The boy giggled and pointed to the wall, "Weed!"

"Make the joke, don't make the joke?" Raven mumbled under her breath.

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**Seuss Landing  
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish  
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The subtleties had not escaped his notice. Oh, he could pretend that nothing was different, but he could see that wasn't the case. No matter how small, how slight, how reserved, he noticed it. He was trained to, after all.

No -- it was more than that; he had come to terms, quite a while ago, with the reality that he would always be almost painfully aware of all the fine nuances about her.

He watched as she turned to grab the ride control from Starfire while Starfire lowered their red flying fish right _into_ the jet of water, much to Raven's very obvious chagrin, and was struck for the umpteenth time that week, with the subtlety of her change.

It was a small thing – she wiped the water from her face and smiled, then caught his eye when they were within view as Starfire struggled to keep the fish moving up and down to the directions in the catchy song. When, as he knew was inevitable, Raven was once again squirted with water, she merely blinked, and chuckled, just for a moment, a _half-chuckle_ really, but he saw it before the fish 'flew' out of view again.

He smiled, he couldn't help it, and added the moment, however brief, to the catalog of other such moments already in his memory.

It occurred to him as he watched that she had been doing that quite a bit in the last week – a small smile here, the passing skim of her fingers on his arm as she walked alongside him, or the press of her shoulder alongside his as they stood in line or sat in one of the many rides. It wasn't a change, per se, not really. But more a kind of release of her inhibitions, as if despite the fact they were all so incredibly tired from the hectic schedule of playing all day, every day for the last week, in a park in the heat and sun, she were actually relaxed. He wasn't the only one she was more relaxed with; he had noticed that as well. She didn't glare (that often) at Beast Boy, she spoke more often, she didn't bury her face in a book anytime she wasn't being directly addressed, and she didn't roll her eyes or stiffen whenever Cyborg put his arm around her or Starfire hugged her. She seemed almost _happy_ to be with them, to do the things they did or ride the rides they wanted to ride.

'_No matter how lame,'_ Robin thought to himself as he watched them on the flying fish.

She even occasionally showed interest for some ride.

But in the night, after they'd all settled to sleep and he lay staring up at the intricate hotel ceiling, running over the events of the day in his mind, he couldn't help but itemize all the little things, the small actions he could interpret as preference.

Sometimes, as he replayed each moment – and he remembered them all – he felt that perhaps his efforts, careful and deliberate as they were – had not been in vain.

She _was_ more comfortable around him. He couldn't be wrong about that. He had seen traces of it even before their vacation, like when she let him accompany her to the museum in Gotham, or when she told him about her mother the day she cooked for them, and the night they watched _Casablanca_ in the park had been…definitely notable. But now…now she seemed to be more willing to remain next to him, even if there was a more solitary place free. Less likely to move should their arms brush, never seeming surprised or anxious to let go during those moments he'd found reason to casually take her hand.

Then, the next moment, he remembered that although she seemed more willing to accept his touches and his nearness, that didn't mean she was aware of what it meant – aware of _him_. She wasn't treating him any differently.

She obviously hadn't figured out how much he cared for her.

She probably _wouldn't_ actually ever figure it out. Robin knew her well enough and was honest enough with himself to admit that. She wouldn't _want_ to figure it out. Raven hated nothing so much as change.

Every night for the past week, he reviewed their day, searching for the signs that she was ready for him to take the next step and every night he was left with the truth that she wasn't ready. She just wasn't. But she was getting there, wasn't she?

He hadn't imagined her slowing her pace as they walked the _Maharajah Jungle Trek_ in Animal Kingdom, had he? Her easy conversation giving him an excuse to stay at her side as they trailed a few feet behind the others who were too excited in the scenery and the experience to notice they had fallen behind. And in Disney-MGM Studios(2), yes, he had made certain they rode the _Rockin' Rollercoaster_ together with his old 'We ride the thrill rides together' line and that he was sitting next to her on the _Tower of Terror_ under the same pretenses, but _she_ had called _him_ to see the crates in the _Character Prop Stop _when she had figured out they made noise if you lifted the lid and that night, during _Fantasmic!_ she had neared him to comment about the special effects when Jafar turned into the snake. So what if he was the one who pressed into her side a little when Maleficent transformed into the fire-breathing dragon?

And then, the night before _Islands of Adventure, _at the end of a full day in Epcot Center, exhausted from the shopping and exploring (mostly shopping) and explaining to Starfire how they could travel the world just by walking through it, they had decided to ride _Spaceship: Earth _as they waited for the final show of the night. He definitely hadn't imagined the slight shift as the seats reclined them backwards just a little to better view the incredible star-filled night sky. He hadn't imagined it -- Raven's head _had_ leaned on his shoulder!

He knew because it had taken every muscle in his body to remain still when she did, and every considerable bit of his control to not tense up. He had wanted so much to look at her then, but he only dared during the darkest part of the ride, when he could just barely see the outline of the top of her head, the shape of her nose and the round apple of her cheeks.

When the ride came to an end and the seats swiveled back into the forward position, she sat up, stretched and said nothing about it, but he remembered.

And he wondered.

And that night, before surrendering to sleep, he decided. She was ready – or as close to ready as she would get and Robin had decided that a park filled with thrill rides would be the perfect setting to take it up a notch.

Robin glanced up, and to the right, squinting into the sun gleaming off the bright green tracks of the _Hulk _Rollercoaster in the distance while turning to the left his eyes followed the red and blue dragon shapes zooming across red and blue tracks just a little further down and smiled.

Soon.

_xxxxxxxx_

It was hard to tune out Cyborg's uproarious laughter, but Beast Boy's heaving guffaws were not only next to impossible to tune out, they were annoying as well.

"This is not a good sign, Rae," Robin said, a smirk on his lips. "First Island we go to and already you've been squirted?"

"I should know better by now than to give the controls over to Kori," Raven answered.

"I went down, down, down when I should have gone up, up, up," Starfire explained, grinning as she wiped at the droplets of water on her arms.

"And then it was no holds barred at the end there," Raven added. "There was no way to tell where it was going to come from."

"You should've seen your face, Rae!" Beast Boy added, still laughing. "You looked like you would've happily smacked the squirting fish."

"What look?" Raven asked menacingly as she approached Beast Boy. "This look?"

Beast Boy swallowed his laughter. "Yeah…that one…"

"You gotta admit, Rae, you had this 'why me?' look about you the whole ride through…" Robin teased.

"But don't take our word for it," Cyborg grinned mischievously. "Look," he extended the digital camera on preview mode and she saw her own face staring back at her.

"How many pictures did you take?" Raven asked, slightly horrified at the prospect.

"Oh, I don't know…" Cyborg looked at Robin as if for confirmation. "Ten?"

"Twenty?" Robin added thoughtfully.

"You took twenty—"

"Twenty-five?" Cyborg half said, half asked.

Raven sighed. "Twenty-five pictures of that humiliating experience?"

"But very refreshing!" Starfire added.

"Sure!" Cyborg answered enthusiastically. "You looked _very_ refreshed!" He touched a button and the picture changed to one just as the water hit Raven's cheek. "See?" he said, just barely containing the laughter.

"Refreshing," Raven nodded. "Yes," Raven said unemotionally. "I see."

Cyborg grinned even wider and switched to another very clear picture of her face with Starfire's laughing next to her. "Don't you just _love_ the zoom feature?" he asked her.

"Oh, I _must _have that picture for my book of scrap pictures," Starfire enthused, looking at the camera over Cyborg's shoulder. "Please friend, Victor, say you will provide a copy for me."

"Of course I will, Kori," Cyborg replied sweetly. "I might even put it up on our website so our friends in Steel City can see it."

Raven glared, but didn't deign that with an answer. "Next?" she asked instead, walking away.

Starfire bounded up behind Raven and wrapped an arm around her neck, snuggling the top of her head. "Thank you for riding with me, Rachel!"

Raven petted Starfire's arm and turned to Cyborg. "Alright, Magellan," she directed at him. "Where to?"

"Well, the only thing we've got left to do here is _If I Ran the Zoo_, and then we're ready to move on to…" he paused dramatically before taking on an ominous tone, "_The Lost Continent…bwahahahaha…."_

Beast Boy laughed as he followed them and poked Cyborg in the ribs, "Do that again!"

Cyborg waggled his eyebrows, "The Lost Continent…_bwahahahahah_!"

Even Raven had to grin at that.

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_**The Lost Continent  
Poseidon's Adventure**  
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Every one of them was highly impressed by the looming structure just beyond the gargantuan arm and trident.

"Whoa," Beast Boy breathed. "It looks so…"

"…real!" Cyborg finished. He pointed to the façade of the Temple of Poseidon where the pillar with the fire burned. "Look at that detail," he breathed as he pulled out the camera.

"This is awesome," Beast Boy agreed. "Let's go ride it!"

Robin hadn't realized that Raven had lagged behind until he turned around as his friends walked into the express line, while the cast member scanned their passes.

"Rae?" he called out.

She blinked and walked up to him, her face completely unemotional. "It is very lifelike," Raven offered as an excuse, walking past him and following the others down the bridge-like ramp toward the temple.

"Is everything okay?" Robin asked, approaching behind her as they stopped once they reached the end of the line inside the temple.

Raven stopped next to him and answered quite briskly "Fine," and proceeded to examine at the walls of the inner temple.

In front of them Beast Boy and Cyborg were having a discussion, seemingly about whether or not the park creators actually found old rocks and faded paintings to put on the walls or if they created it all from scratch, but Robin's eyes were on Raven.

She wasn't fooling him.

"Why don't I believe you?" he asked, his voice low enough so the others couldn't hear, even if they weren't otherwise occupied.

"Your lack of trust is beyond my comprehension," she answered, glancing at him before turning back to her inspection of the walls as they moved minimally forward.

He smirked, but didn't let her deter him into a verbal sparring session either. "Lack of trust is not the issue," he insisted.

"Oh?" she asked, glancing at him. "What is the issue, then?"

"The issue is --" he stopped himself and smiled. "Nevermind," he shook his head. "You don't have to tell me."

She raised her left shoulder in a casual shrug before looking at the new section of wall exposed as they walked. They were silent for a few minutes, with only the murmur of conversation around them before she spoke again. "There are – _were_ – temples like this on Azarath."(3)

Unconsciously, he took a step closer to her.

"I was…" she paused, thinking of what to say, her eyes still on their surroundings, "…unwelcome there,' she finished.

She didn't need to say anymore. He nudged her side with his elbow and smiled at her. "Well, they can't kick you out of here – your entrance was paid for already."

She glanced at him and almost returned his smile before facing forward and announcing, "Poseidon was Greek," to whatever Beast Boy, Cyborg and Starfire had been talking about, effectively changing the subject.

_xxxxxxxxxx_

All in all, they reached the front of the line rather quickly, with minimal wait and by the time Raven had explained to Starfire the human fascination with old, buried and re-found things from many years past, they were entering the first antechamber and being packed inside like sardines.

It took Raven a moment to realize that in the push and shove and adjustment of the crowd, she had become separated from the others. She did a quick visual sweep immediately around her, but saw none of the telling characteristics of any of her friends. She was starting to remind herself that no matter how crowded the room was, if she suddenly disappeared into a black vortex, she'd draw unwanted attention when she felt the press of a familiar aura directly behind her. She turned around just in time to watch the tall blond man with the mutton-chop beard step aside to reveal a smiling Robin.

"Thank you," Robin said, stepping up close to her and casually touching her elbow, his eyes still on the man.

"Hey, no problem," the man said in a thick Texan accent. "If I had a girl as pretty as that, I wouldn't want to be apart from her either," he drawled with a wink and a smile in Raven's direction.

Raven had the impression the man would have tipped his hat if he'd had one, so she didn't take his comment as an insult. Instead, she tipped her head in acknowledgment and turned back toward what appeared to be the front of the room, which looked like a roughly set up scaffold and equipment adequate for a turn of the last century archeological dig.

"That man thinks you're _purty_," Robin leaned in to drawl in her ear teasingly.

"He also thinks quite highly of facial hair," Raven replied dryly. "So, I don't know how much stock I'm willing to put in his taste."

Robin laughed. "Well, at least he got one thing right."

Raven turned to look at him and her expression must have been more telling than she thought, because he laughed and raised his hands in defense. "Hey, I mean about you being pretty, not about the benefits of facial hair."

Raven was mollified and slightly embarrassed at once and was grateful when she caught sight of Cyborg's rather tall form, bald head, and broad shoulders a few people in front of them. Seeing her, he waved and she found herself waving back.

"Where're Garfield and Kori?" Raven mouthed, knowing her voice wouldn't carry over the sea of talkative people.

Cyborg grinned and reached down in front of him, lifting Beast Boy up above the crowd by the shoulders, much to Beast Boy's surprise and embarrassment if his exclamation of "Hey!" was any indication. Still grinning, Cyborg put Beast Boy down and reached, presumably for Starfire, but Starfire beat him to the punch, jumping up and waving when she could see over the crowd.

"Hello, friends!" Kori called, her voice carrying easily.

Raven smirked and lifted a hand.

They were prevented from trying to join their friends by the appearance of Taylor at the scaffolding introducing himself, and starting the show.

She would have been absolutely fine, for even if the detail in the recreation of this ancient forgotten temple was eerily accurate and reminiscent enough to dredge up vague, half-faded memories of her home on Azarath, and even if she was packed in a small room with more people than could comfortably share air for any length of time, it wasn't until Taylor began reading the words along the walls, and she remembered a very old, very useful lesson she had learned years ago (_never read strange incantations aloud_) that she felt the chills crawl down her spine to settle right at the base of her back.

Seconds before the lights went out, pitching the room in total and utter darkness, Raven was already reaching for Robin's hand. His fingers tightening reflexively around hers were the only thing that kept her calm when the lights went out and the _something _that had settled at the base of her spine fell through to her feet, seemingly taking her stomach with it.

She hated this weakness, especially because she knew, even as she fought with her instincts not to use her abilities, that this was fake, that it was all a show, and nothing would go wrong because this was done every half an hour or so a hundred times every day. But she couldn't help the fear, and because it could never be said that Raven didn't learn from her mistakes, she knew she couldn't deny the fear or else it would just get worse.

So she told herself it was a show. She told herself she couldn't use her powers. She told herself the lights would come back on a lot faster than it would seem. But the only real thing that kept her grounded was the warm, solid feel of Robin's hand in hers and his presence at her side.

The lights came on, the storyline of the show progressed, and the people started filing out of the first room before Raven had calmed enough to become even more embarrassed. The others grinned as they caught up with them, walking ahead through the room. She felt Robin's hand against hers and the moment she thought about letting go, he flexed his fingers, intertwining them through hers before she even knew what he was doing. She looked at him in surprise as the people walked on, but he was looking for a way through the crowd, seemingly oblivious to her confused gaze.

"Yo!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "You guys coming or what?"

Robin glanced at her, smiling, "Come on, this looks interesting," he urged, starting to walk toward the door, gently pulling her along.

Raven followed, her hand firmly ensconced in his, and chided herself for being so obvious about her discomfort of this sort of place that Robin felt he had to be this protective of her. She was about to assure him that she was perfectly capable of dealing with her little problem herself when Taylor, their guide, appeared and the show continued, taking up the entirety of their attention.

"This is so cool," Beast Boy said excitedly from where he was standing next to her.

Even Starfire oohed when the spirit appeared on the talisman near the top of the wall, but it wasn't until the stone began moving and the wall opened up to reveal the cascade of water that slowly became a tunnel that Raven's attention was good and thoroughly captured.

"We must walk through that?" Starfire asked as everyone began filing through, gazing in awe at the water tunnel that they were walking through. "What if the magic fades before we are all the way through? I can hold my breath for a time, but--"

"It's alright, Kori," Cyborg assured her. "The magic will hold, come on." He started walking toward the tunnel, holding Starfire's hand and urging her forward. "Come on, y'all…I gotta see how this ends."

Raven watched as Starfire, smiling at her, reached out and grabbed her free hand as she passed, pulling her forward. Raven could still feel Robin's palm against hers, his fingers between hers, and faintly the thrum of his pulse and the buzz of his aura, and even as she was pulled forward by Starfire and Cyborg's momentum, he merely smiled at her and allowed himself to be pulled along with her.

And then they were inside the water vortex and she forgot to wonder about why he hadn't let her go and why she didn't mind and focused only on the light spray of the water that told her the vortex was real and not just an illusion and in trying to figure out how they got the trick to work.

"Friend Aqualad _must_ hear about this as soon as we return home!" Starfire whispered into her ear. "We must urge him to recreate it for us!"

Raven nodded her agreement as they walked into the largest room they had been in yet. Cyborg picked a row near the front and they all followed, crowding up against the metal rail delineating each row, Raven was still wondering about the water vortex right until she stood in wonder of the room itself.

"This is some setup," Raven finally spoke, somewhat in awe.

Robin turned to the side and pulled her forward to stand in front of him against the railing. "If you stay back there, you won't see a thing," he told her, and finally, unable to keep hold of her hand in this new position, she felt his fingers slip from hers as she pressed against the railing in front of her, her eyes following Taylor and her hand feeling incredibly cold where it held on to the metal.

"Thank you," she said, turning to look at him over her shoulder.

He smiled at her and as the row filled out beside her, she noticed that although he was taller than her, he wasn't all that much taller.

She looked around, but the row was completely packed around her, a little girl in pigtail braids on her right, Beast Boy on her left, Starfire behind a little girl next to Beast Boy and Cyborg behind Beast Boy, and Robin, behind her.

Worried, she turned to look at Robin over her shoulder and asked, "Can you see?"

He moved in close enough that she could smell the crisp evergreen scent of what she knew was his soap and feel his warmth again at her back. "I can see just fine," he told her, one hand holding onto the railing next to her left.

"Okay," she answered, staring at his profile only a little before turning back to the front of the room, and only because she wasn't really used to seeing his face from such a close perspective.

_xxxxxx_

It should have been enough that she hadn't moved away or given him a snarky comment. It should have been enough that she didn't pull her hand away as they walked into the room or argue with his lame excuse for why he had to have his arms around her.

He should have been paying attention to the fight between Darkenon and Poseidon and not been wondering about whether he should try leaning into her a little.

He knew he shouldn't even think about pushing it – after all, just because she hadn't said a word didn't mean a thing.

She was still tense and pressed against the railing.

It should have been enough, but it wasn't.

It was better than where they had been a year ago – hell, it was better than where they had been a week ago – but it wasn't enough.

He could wait – he _would_ wait and take it slow, but he would make her comfortable with him eventually, and then he would make certain she was aware of what she meant to him, and then she could decide how she felt about that with a clear understanding.

Still, despite his best intentions, when he felt the large Texan behind him shift forward, he leaned closer to her just enough to carve more space between him and the man, and barely keep from touching her.

"Sorry about this," he said, as his right hand held onto the bar next to her right and she was effectively enclosed. "The guy behind me is really close."

"It's fine," she said, her eyes glued to the events taking place in front of them, but he felt her stiffen and he stiffened in response. And then, when he thought she was about to change her mind and try to get away from him anyhow, she took a deep breath and the tension eased out of her body and her back touched against his front, spreading warmth throughout his chest.

For moment upon moment he didn't dare move, and then the show was over and the audience around them was clapping and he lost his chance as she pulled away and followed the others.

"That was a _good_ show!" Cyborg exclaimed. "Don't you think, Rick?"

"Oh yeah, real good," he agreed, and hoped no one thought to ask him what had happened or who had won.

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**The Lost Continent  
The Coin Mint**  
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"How long do we have to wait here for Dick?" Beast Boy asked, barely looking at the wares on display in the small hutch-like stand. "This is boring." He touched a dangling coin haphazardly.

"As long as it takes," Raven answered, her eyes scanning the menu of designs on the walls.

"He's checking in, green-bean," Cyborg chided. "Give the man a chance, will ya?"

"We could've ridden Dueling Dragons by now!" Beast Boy pointed out.

"It would not be fair to ride this ride without Richard," Starfire reminded him.

Beast Boy opened his mouth to respond when the sudden clang of a bell followed by a loud echoing boom surprised them all into sudden alertness.

"What the hell?" Cyborg asked, looking around for the source of the matter.

Raven glanced casually in the direction of the center of the shop where she had noticed the raised dais as they had approached the stand. There, a man worked a coin press and handed the newly minted coin hanging off a black leather strap to a waiting customer. She 'hmmed' in consideration and went back to looking at the sketched symbols. Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy had all been drawn like moths to flames to the source of the noise and were keeping the man in costume quite busy with their questions about the process.

Raven had found a particularly well-crafted sketch of the rune of destiny and was considering having a coin forged for herself when she felt someone approach her from the side.

"Ah, the rune of destiny," the man said, leaning in to see what had caught her interest. "'Tis a worthy choice," he said in a decent accent. "Mayhap I can persuade the young mistress to gaze upon this symbol?" he pointed to the symbol of a crowned heart held on either side by hands. "'Tis a good counterpoint to destiny," he explained.

She turned to look at him, taking in his costume of baggy-pants and loose linen pirate shirt, all the way up to the scarf around his head, and resisted smirking, but only because she was so good at resisting. "You think a symbol of love is a good counterpoint to destiny?"

The man's eyes widened and he smiled, surprised she knew the symbol. "Ah, but the Claddagh is a symbol of love and friendship, and both are very good counterpoints to destiny."

"I would think they are part of destiny," Raven argued.

The man smiled even wider and nodded a bit. "Aye, mayhaps a bit, but that would beg the age old question: does destiny dictate love, or does love dictate destiny?"

Raven stopped herself from answering the first thing that came to mind and thought about it for a moment. She well remembered what her destiny should have been, and why it wasn't. "Perhaps love does dictate destiny," she allowed. "Or, influence it somehow, at the least."

The man laughed. "Spoken like someone who has experienced the miraculous metamorphic powers of love."

Raven hesitated for a moment. "Yes, I suppose I have," she confirmed. And, after a moment, "of the love of friendship, certainly."

The man nodded knowingly. "I knew it," he assured her. "Now, which one of these is your boyfriend, so I can pester him about having the coin made for you?"

Raven smiled a little and shook her head. "Ever the salesman, eh?"

The man smiled, unrepentant. "Man's gotta make a buck," he said with a shrug, the accent gone.

"They pay you commission?"

The man snorted, "As if." He laughed at Raven's look. "Well, it's just an expression, you know? If I don't try to sell, it's bloody boring around here."

"Ah," Raven answered.

"So, which one?" the man asked, all trace of accent gone now. "Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome?" he motioned to Cyborg. "Or Mr. Short-Skinny-and-Funny?" He turned to her and waited. "Or maybe it's the Armani Model look-a-like that went off awhile ago and hasn't come back yet?"

Raven looked at the man in total surprise for a moment so that she forgot to answer him. "None," she finally answered. "None of them, they're all friends…"

"Not even that one that gave you a smoldering look out of his baby blues before he left?" he insisted.

Raven frowned. "Smoldering?" she was willing to laugh at the man's assumptions. "I think you confused it for a warning glare."

"Honey, I can tell smoldering when I see it," he assured her.

Raven was amused enough to continue the conversation. "And I know Richard's warning glare when I see it."

"So, if not one of the boys, then the girl?" the man asked. "Come on, babe, give me someone to sell to?"

Raven did chuckle then, but only because of the hopeful, pitiful look on the man's expression. "No, none of them."

"Really?" he asked. "I mean, I didn't think you had the chemistry with any of the others, but from what I saw of it, there was mondo chemistry between you and Blue Eyes."

Raven shook her head. "His name's Richard," she pointed out.

"Richard," the man smiled. "Good, strong, regal name," he nodded once. "It suits him." He met Raven's expression and smirked. "What? If you don't play for the all-girl's team, you can't tell me you haven't thought about what a fine specimen of a man your Richard is."

Raven couldn't help it, she laughed. "I'll introduce you if you like."

"Girl, don't get my hopes up, I can tell he doesn't pitch for my team," he laughed. "But seriously, now, let's get back to what you think of your Richard."

"He's not _my_ Richard," Raven pointed out.

"But you'd like him to be?" he asked slyly.

"Shouldn't you be trying to sell me something?" Raven asked, meeting his cheerful eyes levelly. Anyone that knew Raven would have taken the hint. This man, however, didn't know Raven.

"I told you I don't make commission," he answered. "And getting you to admit you think the boy's hot is more fun."

Raven started a little at his response and was shocked enough to ask the first thing that came into her mind. "Why?"

The coin merchant's expression turned compassionate. "Because he's obviously gone on you," he answered. "I can't let that go un-recognized." He shrugged. "Call me Cupid."

Raven thought about arguing that he couldn't possibly know what he was talking about, but restrained herself. "I think I will buy the coin pendant," she said instead.

"Okay, okay," the man gave in. "But c'mon…" he cajoled. "You've gotta at least admit: he's fine."

Raven stared very hard at the wall of sketches. Later, she would tell herself it was heat stroke, or the man's unusually affable nature, or both. In the moment, however, Raven had never intended to say anything aloud – but she did. "Yes, I suppose I do," she admitted, mostly under her breath.

The man laughed. "See? That wasn't so hard!" he exclaimed happily, taking her by the shoulders and steering her so quickly toward the center dais where the coin mason was still at his press that she never noticed Robin had stopped behind her.

"Master Tobias!" the man called, his accent back in full swing. "M'lady would like a coin pressed, if you please good sir!"

"As she will, Mister Gordon!" the man at the press replied. "Step right up, m'lady, and tell ole' Master Tobias what you'd like on ye coin!"

Raven, finding herself in the limelight of a sudden, stepped closer to the man and told him, too amazed at her sudden predicament to notice that Robin had rejoined them, let alone to feel how Robin's amazed eyes had remained on her.

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**The Lost Continent  
Dueling Dragons**  
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"Hey, at least it's not a wooden rollercoaster."

Raven turned to Robin, standing against the line guard and blinked. "What?"

"You're looking at the coaster as if you'd never ridden _The Beast_ back home," Robin pointed out. "I was just reminding you that at least it's not wooden, which if I recall correctly, you had quite a bit of trouble accepting."

The roar of the ice dragon flying nearly directly above them drew her eyes back to catch the tail end of the ride as it nearly collided with the fire dragon in a loop.

"Hey," Robin neared her and looked back at the coaster, searching it for something out of place that might have put the worry in Raven's face. Unable to find what might be alarming Raven, he looked back at her and touched her shoulder, letting his hand linger. "What is it?" he asked.

They moved a few inches in the line and Robin waited to make certain that Cyborg and Beast Boy were still involved in their conversation before turning back to Raven, squeezing her hand. "You know by now I still mean what I said before _The Beast_, right?"

Raven shook her head. "That's not it," she said, her voice even, yet lower in octave then it had been.

"Then what is it?" Robin asked, searching her face as earnestly as she seemed to be watching for the ride.

She shook her head again and followed the fire dragon as it flew nearby. "I don't like dragons."

It took Robin a minute to realize what she meant, but when he did, his jaw clenched and his hand tightened around hers. It had been years since she'd been tricked by that good for nothing bastard of a dragon-cum-wizard, and yet she still thought of it.(4) Robin hated to remember the Bastard Dragon and hated to remember that he hadn't been able to stop him from hurting her, but he especially hated that even though he was locked once again in his book, he still managed to affect her.

"I wish you would've let me hurt him some more before you put him back in the book," he said vehemently, before he could stop himself. They had never really spoken about the incident. He knew she had spoken with Beast Boy about it, but he had never pressed either of them on what was said.

A brief burst of laughter surprised him out of his reverie and he turned stunned eyes to meet Raven's amused ones.

Robin frowned. "Hey, I don't appreciate that laugh one bit!" he exclaimed, obviously offended.

Raven didn't reply, but stepped forward in the line, leaving him to catch up in order to continue to point at her. "If by that laugh you're implying I couldn't have bested—"

Raven put a hand up, almost touching his lips, stilling him. "Thank you."

Robin sighed. "For what?" he asked. "You beat him before I could really get started."

"You tried," she said. "It wasn't your battle: it was my mistake, but you tried anyway. All of you did." She met his eyes seriously and the line moved a few inches without them. "I never said how much I appreciated that, but I did…I do."

"I would've done a lot worse than put him in a book for hurting you, if I could," he admitted.

She nodded and squeezed his hand. "I know." She offered him a small smile before walking on, releasing his hand.

Robin sighed and followed her, thinking, _'No you don't…but it's a start…'_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
**Jurassic Park  
Thunder Falls Terrace  
Lunch  
**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"I can't believe you stopped the ride."

"Shhh…will you?" Beast Boy demanded, looking around. "I didn't know the flash was turned on this time, I swear!"

"That makes two rides you nearly got us kicked out of, Gar," Robin pointed out, peeling his corn as the splash of the River Adventure fall sounded next to them every few moments.

"You're just lucky the other riders on the River Adventure boat didn't inform the attendants," Raven added, taking a bite of her hamburger.

Beast Boy slunk further in his chair and picked at his black beans and rice. "I didn't mean to."

"That is alright, friend, I am most certain that the staff would have understood it was a mistake," Starfire tried to soothe.

"All I know is if we got kicked out before I get to ride _The Hulk_, I would've kicked your ass, green bean," Cyborg added, ripping a chunk off of his BBQ ribs.

Beast Boy made a face, but knew better in his current precarious situation than to comment about his friend's appetite for meat.

"This is some _good_ BBQ!" Cyborg enthused. "Mmm-hmmm," he added, pulling off more meat in an act that would have made any cave man (or Henry the Eighth) proud. "I think I might need to get me some more," he added as an afterthought.

"That again?" Raven asked, sparing him a glance.

"What?" Cyborg asked, chewing.

"You had green eggs and ham at that place in Seuss Landing, a chicken gyro at the Fire Eater's Grill in front of that talking fountain in the Lost Continent, nachos at that place just before the River Adventure ride and now this."

Cyborg blinked at her. "Yeah? Your point?"

"Anyone would think we don't feed him at home," Raven said to Starfire.

Starfire giggled as she sipped on her mustard. "He _is_ a boy that is increasing," she excused.

"Y'all don't!" Cyborg answered frankly.

"Just give it up, Rae," Robin urged. "I think he likes the food more than the rides, if you ask me."

Cyborg grinned and tore another piece of meat off his ribs. "So what's left here on Jurassic Park?"

Robin pulled out the map and laid it on the table next to him as he chewed. "Well…we've done the River Adventure…" he offered a meaningful glare at Beast Boy, then continued, "Explored in the Discovery Center, and met Cera, Chris and Topper the Triceratops at the Triceratops Encounter (5)—"

"Yeah, and what's up with that so-called-Triceratops Encounter, anyway?" Beast Boy asked. He pushed a bean around his plate. "They don't look real at all!" he insisted. "I mean, _I _don't look like that!"

"No," Raven agreed, much to his surprise. "You're green," she finished, taking another bite out of her hamburger.

Beast Boy frowned and opened his mouth to continue his rant, but was interrupted by Robin who continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"-- and the Flyers and the Camp Jurassic are for the kiddies, so I think we're ready to move on to Toon Lagoon."

Robin folded the map up and grinned at his friends. "And it looks like _Dudley Do-Right's Rip Saw Falls_ is first up."

"Whoo-hoo! I'm ready, let's go!" Beast Boy demanded, standing with enthusiasm.

"Me also! I would like to ride the Falls that Rip!" Starfire added.

Raven didn't think she liked the sound of it, so said nothing.

"Whoa there, string bean, lets finish our lunch first, huh?" Cyborg asked.

"But I wanna ride that!" Beast Boy whined.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
**Toon Lagoon  
Dudley Do-Right's Rip Saw Falls  
**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"I can't ride that!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"Why ever not, friend?" Starfire inquired.

"Just _look_ at those people getting off the ride!" Beast Boy pointed, rather rudely, to a group of people laughing and squishing notably as they walked, squeezing water out of their dripping shirts and hair.

"Did they bathe while in there?" Raven asked rhetorically.

"I can't ride that," Beast Boy insisted.

"Damn!" Cyborg cursed. "Neither can I."

Starfire frowned. "I do not wish to become as wet as the first day at the Kingdom of Magic while in my clothes," Starfire mused. "It was most unpleasant that day to walk around wet." She looked at Raven. "We should have brought our suits for bathing."

Raven opened her mouth to respond but Robin stopped her with a firm grip on her wrist. "I suppose it's just us two then, Rae."

Raven stared at him. "We cannot possibly leave our friends to wait here while we go on a frivolous ride…"

"But it's hot!" Robin argued. "I would _love_ to get that wet right about now."

Raven opened her mouth to respond and again she was interrupted, this time by Cyborg.

"You two should definitely ride. We don't mind waiting, do we guys?" Cyborg asked, looking at the others.

"I don't care," Beast Boy said, already looking for a good seat. "It'll give me a chance to get off my feet for awhile."

"Yes," Starfire insisted, pushing at Raven so she was forced to take a step toward the entrance of the ride's line. "You two must ride."

"But…" Raven started.

"You heard them, Rae, c'mon, let's get wet!" Robin prompted cheerily, dragging her toward the entrance of the line behind him.

Raven's only reply was to sigh as she allowed herself to be dragged, not unlike a rag doll behind him.

When they came to the point in the line where they had to stop or risk colliding into the man in front of them, Robin turned to grin at her and frowned at her expression. "Don't look at me like I just sold Silkie to a factory."

Raven raised a brow. "Can I help it if I don't think we should have left them there to wait for us like that?"

"You heard them say it was alright," Robin defended. "None of them wanted to get wet."

"I didn't want to get wet either, but you didn't seem preoccupied about that."

"Aw. C'mon, Rae! I sat through that MuppetVision 3D show at MGM you wanted to see, didn't I?"

"Yes, but so did Victor, Garfield and Kori," she pointed out as the line moved.

"Only _after_ I said I'd go with you first," he reminded her, finger raised to make his point.

"But no one was left waiting behind," she repeated.

"You were willing to ride _Tower of Terror _at MGM Studios with Victor and Garfield alone the second time," Robin argued.

Raven took her eyes away from her scrutiny of the explanation of Dudley Do-Right's dilemma being played out around them, and smirked. "Only because you didn't want to ride it again."

"I went to check on Kori," he reminded her.

"Okay," Raven said simply.

Robin narrowed his eyes at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Raven looked at him. "Pardon?"

Robin's eyes narrowed, if possible, even more. "That 'okay'" he mimicked her tone. "What did you mean by it?"

Raven's lips quirked, but she shrugged. "Well…okay is a term of approval, frequently used in American slang to signify assent or acknowledgement—"

"I _know_ what the word _means_," he interrupted her.

"Then why did you ask?" she asked innocently.

He shook his head and stood in front of her when she would have walked forward in the line. "When you said 'okay' you didn't just mean 'okay' though, did you?" he challenged.

"I didn't?" she asked.

"No," he walked backwards until she reached out a hand to stop him from bumping into the person in front of them in line. "You were trying to imply that I didn't ride the _Tower of Terror_ for some other reason that wasn't just to check on Kori."

"I was not trying to imply anything of the sort." She searched his expression in the queue's half-light and found herself speaking words she normally would never have said. "I was not attempting to make any sort of comment on the fact that you decided to check on Kori only after we had entered the line for the ride the second time after seeing her and trying to get her to accompany us on the ride for the second time."

"A-ha!" Robin exclaimed. "I knew you were implying I was afraid to ride it the second time."

"I said nothing," Raven insisted, gently nudging him so that he would continue to walk as the line had advanced.

"You're the one that was perfectly willing to leave me behind to go ride with Vic and Gar, rather than wait for me to check on Kori," he said suddenly.

Raven met his eyes in surprise. "I thought you seriously did not want to ride it again."

"So you _did_ think I was being a chicken!" he exclaimed.

She shook her head. "I thought only that you preferred to check on Kori." It surprised her that her words didn't come out as light-hearted as their conversation had thusfar been, but it wasn't until she noticed the change in his own expression that she let her eyes wander away from him and back to the line entertainment.

"Hey," he called, and his voice was very close to her suddenly, pitched low and serious.

Her eyes turned to him, seemingly of their own will, but flicked away quickly. "Yes?" she asked.

There was a pause that lasted long enough that Raven thought he wouldn't say anymore. "The fast rides are _our_ thing, aren't they?" he asked.

Raven turned to look into his eyes, shining clear in the lights around them and felt something in her chest fall to somewhere below her stomach. She had looked in Robin's eyes plenty of time, she had even stared him down on more than one occasion, but something about his tone, the way his mouth formed the word 'our' made her self-conscious and hyper-aware of the sheer force of his presence. Aware enough of herself to recognize that such obvious focus was affecting her in strange ways.

In the end, Raven broke first and forced herself to look away, her eyes falling on the talking moose heads with their corny jokes. She cleared her throat and was proud when her voice sounded normal. "This place is so cheesy."

The line moved and Robin had to back away from her to allow them both to walk the few steps the line had advanced, but when they settled, he looked around them and couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, isn't it great?" he asked.

"Well, for someone who likes primary colors as much as you do…" she let her sentence trail off meaningfully and Robin scoffed.

"Are you trying to say that I'm—?"

"Cheesy, yes," she interrupted. "Is he really tying her up to train tracks?" Raven asked, her attention now on the television screens showing bits of the cartoon. "How unoriginal."

Robin laughed. "But effective."

Raven raised and lowered her brows. "Well, I'll say."

It didn't take them long at all in the Express Pass line to get to the head of the line, and as Raven watched the group ahead of them board the cartoon style log, she frowned. "They call this a ride?" she asked.

"It's not so different from Splash Mountain and you remember what that was like," Robin reminded her.

"At least Splash Mountain had seats," she pointed out.(6)

Robin laughed. "Those are seats."

"According to whose definition?" she challenged.

"Anyone's," he answered and pointed at another departing log, "look, people are sitting on them."

"People sit on the floor, too, does that make the floor a seat?" she countered.

"Oh, I get it," Robin said, "you're worried because you won't be able to hold onto me like on Splash Mountain, aren't you?"

Raven rolled her eyes, but hid her face by turning to watch for their approaching log.

"Be a good Mounty, my friend," the girl directing them told Robin, "and let your girl go in front." She winked at Robin and told them to watch their step as Raven stepped inside the log.

When they sat, and Robin's legs stretched out alongside her own, Raven put her hands on the bar at the front of the inside of the plastic log and felt insecure. _'This can't be safe…'_ she thought.

She looked around for another way to hold on, but as the log trudged forward, Robin's arms wrapped around her waist, his hands linking in front of her and gently resting on her abdomen. "Don't worry, Rae," he said near her ear. "_I_ can hold on to _you_." When she leaned forward as far as his arms would allow to better turn around and glare at him, he merely grinned. "I won't let you fall."

Raven felt a sudden wash of heat, which she tried to stamp down to no avail. With Robin holding her, it was next to impossible to ignore the effect he had on her. She was not certain she had controlled her facial expressions completely, but her voice was certainly stoic enough as she asked, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm keeping you safe," he answered simply, the corner of his lip betraying his amusement.

"Remove them _now_."

"But Rae—"

"Richard."

He smirked and removed his arms, letting them rest on the bars along the side and although it was exactly what she asked for, she was more disconcerted than before, and that made her confused and everyone knew a confused Raven was a grumpy Raven.

Still, despite herself, all it took was the tableau presented before Raven as their log moved forward and she saw Dudley Do-Right sitting backward on his horse (aptly named, Horse) on his way to save his girl and she couldn't help but be a little amused. And in another moment, perhaps when she wasn't as tired and as emotionally bombarded as she had been the last week, she might wonder why that was.

A minute into the ride, she'd seen enough of the characters represented so that she could not possibly resist saying to Robin over her shoulder, "This Dudley Do-Right reminds me of someone…"

Behind her, Robin groaned, "Why do I sense a new nickname coming?"

Raven's only reply was to smirk which faded into a frown as the first splash of water hit her left shoulder and thigh.

"Well, that's not too bad," Robin said, and she might have been inclined to agree, if the albeit short fall hadn't jostled her right back into Robin's chest and if his left hand was not currently absently wiping water off her shoulder while his right cleared his face of the drops.

In response, Raven pulled herself forward on the so-called seat, increasing the space between her and Robin's chest, holding on tightly. Had she not been so busy trying to fight off a blush, she might have heard Robin chuckling behind her.

In an effort to draw their attention away from their physicality, Raven looked at the displays and listened to the narrator tell the story of Dudley.

"He even tied up the horse?" Raven asked wondrously as they passed a new tableau while the announcer told the story around them.

"Gotta give him credit for originality there," Robin pointed out.

Raven felt a smile tug at her lips and didn't fight it as much as she normally might. "Two points at most," she conceded.

"What was that?" Robin asked.

Raven turned her head to look at him over her shoulder. "I said, two points at most," Raven repeated.

He frowned. "Sorry, can't hear you…" he pulled himself up until his chest was right against her back again, his right arm once again snaking around her waist to anchor himself in place. "Care to repeat that again?"

Raven frowned and looked down at his hands against her stomach. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

"He's flirtin' with ya, honey," the woman behind Robin exclaimed to her. "Enjoy it, he's cute!" she added much to her and her companion's amusement.

"Madam," Raven started, the even tone to her voice doing a shabby job of hiding the bright red flush on her cheeks. "He is not—"

"Oh, look, it's Nell!" Robin exclaimed, pointing off to their right.

Raven turned her head to look. "Who?"

"Haven't you been paying any attention to the storyline?" Robin asked, laughing.

"I have," she told him.

"Then why didn't you know Dudley's love interest's name was Nell?" Robin challenged.

"I don't think they said it," Raven argued.

"Of course they did," Robin replied. "Or, how would I have known it?"

"Because you're weird that way," Raven quipped.

"Oh-oh," Robin said, his left arm joining his right around her waist, pulling her tight against him. When Raven turned around to argue, he motioned to the sign telling them they were at the height of the mountain. "I have a feeling this is the big one," Robin whispered near her ear, his arms tightening.

At that precise moment, Raven didn't particularly care if it was "the big one" or not – all Raven cared about was the fact that the longer Robin's arms held her tight against him, the harder it was to control the blush from overtaking her face and the harder it was to control her heart from beating hard and fast and if Robin stayed so close to her, he just might be able to feel it through the back of her rib-cage. So, instead of keeping her hold of the handlebars in front of her, Raven's hands went to his arms and tried futilely to pull them apart. When her hands sought for the logically weaker point of his fingers, he grabbed out for hers and held them firm inside his. She would have continued fighting, except suddenly they were plummeting very fast and very far and Raven pushed back into his chest and reflexively held onto his hands in an unconscious attempt to keep herself seated in the ride.

Meanwhile, on the ground, along the right side of the ride against the gate stood Cyborg with camera poised and ready, zoomed to capture Robin and Raven's downfall. Beast Boy, standing behind Cyborg, was the first to speak after the sight of Robin, arms around Raven's waist and Raven's hands in his.

"YES!" Beast Boy exclaimed, jumping up in joy as Cyborg snapped the picture, despite his shock.

As the log carrying the subject of their shock dipped under the water fall out of sight, Cyborg turned slowly to look at Beast Boy, who had, by now, realized that he had spoken aloud and was wondering exactly how to get out of explaining what he meant.

"Why did you just…?" Cyborg started.

"Uh…it looks like they're having fun?" Beast Boy tried.

Cyborg's grin started slow, but soon it was shining bright with its knowing. "You've seen it, haven't you?" he asked.

It took Beast Boy a second to realize that Cyborg didn't seem surprised or upset, but when he did, he smiled. "Dude! I have eyes, you know!"

"We've got to talk," Cyborg said.

Both of them were too surprised and shocked to notice how Starfire was quietly smiling as Robin and Raven exited the ride through the exit line on the other side of where they were all standing, Robin dripping wet and smiling while Raven looked shell-shocked. She didn't bother telling Cyborg and Beast Boy that Robin and Raven sort of squished toward the restrooms near the exit of the ride, because it didn't occur to her that either Cyborg or Beast Boy would need to see the way Robin was obviously teasing her and especially didn't need to see the blush Raven was doing such a bad job of holding back as she escaped into the bathroom.

She would give them some time, Starfire decided, before she informed Beast Boy and Cyborg of their location.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
**Toon Lagoon  
Dudley Incident 2008****  
The Aftereffects  
**__xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Raven originally entered the bathroom in the hopes of drying herself off, but when it took her three tries to reach for a handful of paper towels only to be nudged out of the way before she could get any more, she decided she could live with the dripping. Giving up on being any dryer, Raven emerged from the ladies' room, paper towels in hand for Robin as a peace offering of sorts.

When she found him a few steps away from the bathroom everything clicked into place. It was an epiphany, if ever she'd had one.

As she was struck immobile with the force of it, Robin wrung his t-shirt dry(er) in his hands while water dripped from the tips of his hair and lean, muscular, _bare_ chest and arms, Raven came to a sudden, shocking, axis-tilting revelation that would have caused her to curse had she been the kind to curse at all (and not been too busy staring at him like a guppy):

Robin, her friend, sometimes protector, and erstwhile teacher was…good looking.

'Hot. Robin is _hot_. As in fine.' A part of her mind that sounded oddly like Knowledge but with a distinct satisfied purr Knowledge never sported corrected her. 'As in totally fu—' Raven shut down the thought before it had a chance to completely form, deciding she needed no more similes to understand the concept.

And, of course, it was at just that point in her reverie that she noted that Robin had seen her standing, rooted to the spot and staring at him.

He walked the few steps between them, standing almost toe-to-toe with her before shaking out his t-shirt and smirking at her. "Get any dryer?" he asked, the smile on his face belying the casualness of his words.

Raven replied by blinking and shoving the paper towels toward him, just barely keeping from recoiling when her knuckles bumped the hard flesh of his abs. "Here," she said roughly, waiting for him to take the towels, all the while avoiding his eyes.

As soon as he took the towels, Raven turned on her heel without another word and started back for the bathroom.

She could feel Robin's stare between her shoulder blades, right where her own t-shirt was sticking to her skin, and for some reason unfathomable to her, that made her even more aware of the sudden flare of attraction.

"Leaving so soon, Rae?" Robin asked, the tone of his voice such that she suddenly recalled Speedy. She stopped and glared back at him over her shoulder, but it only made him laugh, and the apparent similarities between the archer and her friend and leader made her eyes narrow. "The way you were staring, I thought maybe you'd like to stay and appreciate the view a little longer."

Raven turned completely around, covering her embarrassment and meeting his eyes with a searing glare. "Oh no," she replied coolly, "I can't say there was any particularly spectacular show."

His widened smile and the way his eyebrows hiked up suggested the disbelief that his words confirmed. "That so? Then what had you looking so fascinated? You _were _staring pretty intensely."

Inside, her heart was trying to burst from her chest and several of her internal selves were running mad and panicking. Outwardly, however, she hitched a shoulder in an unaffected shrug. "Nothing, really, just an idea you gave me."

His chin tilted down and he looked at her from beneath his eyelashes. "Only one?"

'_Only one that counts,'_ a voice inside answered, amused. When she spoke, thankfully, her tone was dry, "The one was enough." Shaking her head, she turned and began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" His words halted her a few steps away.

Looking at him over her shoulder and trying to keep her gaze focused on anything from the neck up, she responded with a wry drawl, "Unlike you, I require privacy to go topless."

He indulged in a short laugh, calling after her cajolingly when she resumed her retreat. "Well, isn't that sexist? _You_ watched me take _my_ shirt off. What about equality?"

He heard her scoff under her breath and was gratified by her turning the rest of the way to look at him, even if she did prop her hands on her hips in exasperation. "Half the _park_ watched _you_," she retorted, eyeing his slightly glistening pectorals almost accusingly. "Excuse me if I'm disinclined to stay for the part where they start stuffing dollar bills down your pants."

By the time he had finished laughing, she had already slipped away.

Unfortunately for Raven, back inside the bathroom was not the refuge from the realizations of just how much Robin's words (and presence) was suddenly making her heart beat faster and her breath quicken as she had hoped it might have been.

She had barely managed to lock the stall door behind her and start her calm breathing techniques before it started just outside her door.

"Good gracious, did you see that guy outside?"

She should've picked the stall on the other end of the bathroom, she thought wryly, trying gamely to tune the very clear discussion out.

"Mr. Black-hair-blue-eyed-swimmer's-build with the oh-so-perfectly filled in jeans?" another responded. "How could I miss him?"

"Who'd want to!" a third added.

"God, what I wouldn't give to just—"

Raven squeezed the water out of her t-shirt into the toilet and was blissfully spared from having to hear exactly what the girl would have.

"Did you see the girl he was talking to, though?"

"_So_ lucky."

Raven leaned against the door of the stall and sighed. _'Lucky?' _she thought. Was it lucky to suddenly realize that you're attracted to your best friend? She didn't pay any particular attention to the part of her mind that questioned whether it was 'sudden' or not.

"What girl?" the first one asked. "I was distracted."

The others laughed and Raven looked up at the ceiling, her t-shirt hanging limply from her hand. _'No, why would you notice?'_ Raven wondered, tightening the twist on her t-shirt with sudden vehemence.

"I think they're going out," one of the girls offered.

Raven scoffed as she dabbed at her bare stomach and chest with swaths of toilet paper, but no one heard her.

"What? Why would you say that? Just 'cause he was talking to her?"

There was a heavily heaved, very dramatically produced sigh. "He was so flirting with her."

'_Shows what she knows,'_ Raven thought, then stopped. _'Is that what it looks like?'_ she wondered. She knew they were spending a lot of time together this past week, but they had always tended to gravitate together. That they were talking didn't mean anything. They _always_ talked.

But she couldn't quite forget the feel of his arms around her waist as he held onto her during the last ride. She remembered the words he'd said just outside the bathroom, and although she had become accustomed to teasing from the likes of Speedy and had been more than willing to attribute Robin's teasing as coming from the same mysterious 'male-ness' source, she was certainly the last person to be any sort of expert on the matter of flirting. He had certainly seemed pleased with himself at finding her eyes on him, there was no denying that.

"Yeah, did you see the way he was leaning?"

Raven was tempted to sigh just as dramatically as the drama queen outside the stall doors. "What's with this leaning?" she muttered low, under her breath.

"Well, it doesn't have to _mean_ anything more than just flirting," one of the girls pointed out to mummers of agreement.

'_Flirting that doesn't mean more than flirting?'_ Raven wondered. She exhaled and looked at her t-shirt in dejection.

"Yeah!" another of the girls enthused. "Like just playing!"

"Or, just being nice," the first added.

'_That's right,'_ she decided. So what if he was flirting? What would someone who caused this kind of a disturbance to people of the opposite sex want with someone as easily overlooked as her, anyway? No, no matter what it might feel like with his innuendo and touchy-feeliness, he couldn't possibly mean more than just the fact she was there.

"It would be a _real_ shame if we couldn't at least flirt with a guy that looked like that," one of them mused.

"Mm-hmm," a few of the others agreed.

"Hot guy update," one of them announced and it sounded as if she were by the entrance. "He's still outside, but the shirt's back on."

"Aw," several of the girls bemoaned.

"That's a damn shame," another verbalized.

"Is the girl with him?"

"Nope," the lookout reported.

"I bet he's waiting for her."

"_I_ bet she _is_ his girlfriend," another mentioned. "Otherwise, why would he be waiting outside for her?"

"Maybe they're just friends?"

"Uh-uh," one said sadly. "I saw how he looked at her as they were flirting."

"I didn't see," one said. "How did he look at her?"

The one who supposedly had seen must have done something with her face because there was a consensus of groans.

"Aw, man," another sighed. "Too bad."

There was a moment of quiet and Raven thought they might have left.

"I say we go out there and give it a shot, anyway, what do you say, ladies?" the louder of the girls suggested. "What do we have to lose, right?"

The others laughed their agreement.

"Hey y'all, but what if she _is_ his girlfriend?" one of the quieter ones suggested.

"So what if she is?" the first challenged. "If she can't hold on to her guy after just a little flirting, then she doesn't deserve him!"

"Sissy's right," another said. "It wouldn't be right…would it?"

Raven, meanwhile, had had about enough. She pulled on her still moist t-shirt and prepared to exit the stall. The laughter died as the stall door slammed into the wall.

Everyone primping before the mirrors, in the moderately empty bathroom, including a cluster of teenaged girls, who she guessed by their location had to be the ones speaking, turned to stare at Raven standing in the doorway.

"No," Raven said distinctly, meeting each of their eyes. "It _wouldn't_," she answered, holding their eyes for a moment longer before walking gracefully to the door. Feeling their eyes still on her, Raven couldn't help but turn to look at them over her shoulder, framed by the doorway and the brilliant day outside. "And for the record," she said, "he's a gymnast, not a swimmer," she finished before sweeping out of the bathroom and straight to Robin.

"Well, you look slightly dryer," he said as she approached. He laughed as a strand of hair over her cheek dripped as if to belie his words. He pushed it away, drying her cheek with his thumb absently. He very obviously bit back a chuckle. "Or maybe not."

"I'll dry soon enough," she said, but didn't move away.

He laughed again and waggled his eyebrows. "Not _quite_ yet."

"What?" she asked, clearly unamused.

"Well, there's still _Popeye's Raft Ride_," he pointed in the direction, leaning close to be able to make sure she was looking at the right area. "See there? Where the statue of Popeye is?"

"I see it," she said stoically.

He laughed. "Think of it this way," he said, putting an arm over her shoulders. "What's a little more water at this point?"

When he knew she knew she couldn't argue, he took her hand and began to lead her in the ride's direction.

"What about the others?" Raven asked, looking behind them in search of their friends and finding the amazed eyes of one of the girls from inside the bathroom following their departure instead. She felt a thrill of something like satisfaction as Robin held back, still holding onto her hand, quickly followed by a rush of guilt.

What right did she have to claim any sort of ownership to Robin, no matter how obnoxiously annoying those _little girls_ were being?

"They came by when you were inside," Robin's voice interrupted her thoughts. "I told them about _Popeye's_ and since Cyborg wanted to go try the burgers at Wimpy's, they said they'd meet us at _Popeye's_ exit."

Raven narrowed her eyes in thought. "Victor just wanted to get a picture of us sopping wet, didn't he?"

Robin grinned and that was admission enough for her.

Raven almost asked him why he'd let her go get dry if he knew they'd be getting wet again, but she had appreciated getting away from him at that point, even if she hadn't resolved any of the doubts and questions in her mind.

Feeling eyes on her, Raven turned to see one of the girls from the bathroom just beyond the line.

"What is it, Rae?" Robin asked. When Raven turned to him, he looked slightly worried. "You look flushed – have you been drinking enough water?"

Looking into his concerned eyes, feeling his cool, slightly calloused palm on her forehead and cheek, Raven felt more flushed than ever.

"I'm fine," she said, but when he didn't look convinced, she smiled and reached up to take his hand from her forehead. "But if it'll make you feel better, I'll open my mouth a lot during the ride."

Robin laughed and shook his head, but he didn't pull his hand out of hers as they walked forward in the line and somewhere inside, Raven was glad.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
**Toon Lagoon  
Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges**  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Raven watched as the people on the raft with her took off their shoes and put them inside the covered center and frowned. She glanced to her right at Robin and met his eyes despite the people crossing between them to board the raft. She looked pointedly at his bare feet and he smirked in response. "When in Rome," he called out across the distance, wiggling his toes.

Raven took another look at his bare feet and turned away to hide the amusement. He had gotten enough slack from their entire group when he started wearing walking shoes to go to the parks instead of his usual sturdy boots, but if they saw him barefoot and wiggling his toes, he'd never live it down. She wasn't sure she'd let him, anyway.

"You might want to put your sandals in there too," the girl sitting next to her on the left advised.

Raven looked down at the brown flip flops she had bought after their day at Magic Kingdom had her walking around in soggy shoes for most of the day in confusion as the raft began to move. "I don't care about them getting wet," Raven answered.

The girl laughed. "Well, flip-flops don't get wet so much as float away," she said, motioning with her hands.

Raven considered her options for about two seconds before quickly taking off her flip-flops and putting them inside the covered center as well.

"Thank you," she told the girl.

The girl smiled and glanced at her friend on her other side, turning back to Raven with the look of one on a mission. "Hey," the girl started. Raven looked away from the area they were passing to glance at the girl. "You're here with that guy, aren't you?" she asked, motioning Robin as the ride bumped along.

"Yes," Raven answered, back to watching their surroundings for possible threats of water-attack.

The girl leaned in and smiled nervously. "_With him_ with him?" she asked.

Raven frowned and avoided the first spray of water almost absently by leaning forward.

The girl must have seen her confusion, because she went on to clarify: "Like, is he your boyfriend?"

Raven clenched her jaw and refrained from telling the girl just what she thought of her prying questions. What was it with everyone asking about her and Robin, anyway? She wondered. She would _not_, no matter how tempted, however, tell this girl the same lie she implied to the girls in the bathroom. She had been goaded then, and had no excuse to do so here. After all, Robin was free to date girls – and perhaps if he knew this girl was interested…

Raven's expression turned stony as she answered the girl, oblivious to the first spray of water to hit against her back. "No."

The girl waited as the ride hit a series of turns and more water fell on them, but Raven was no longer interested in avoiding being wet. She was wet already, anyway.

"Does he have a girlfriend, then?" the girl pressed.

"No," she replied, trying not to let her voice sound as annoyed as she was.

The girl laughed and turned to her friend with, raising a thumb up with glee. "So…" the girl continued, heedless of the ride altogether, "would you give him my number?"

Raven couldn't be sure the girl didn't catch the look on Raven's face before she managed to rein it in. She asked herself what harm would it do to take the girl's number and give it to Robin, letting him deal with it however he would. He probably wouldn't call her anyway, it wasn't as if he went on dates.

Still, the word that came out of her mouth surprised her as much as the girl. "No." It was clipped, sure, and determined, and it left absolutely no doubt in the girl's mind what Raven's meaning or reasoning could be.

Raven realized this, and as the girl replied, "Ah…I see," and nodded, Raven scoffed.

"Probably not," Raven said.

The girl smiled and casually touched her arm. "No worries, hun," the girl said with a wink. "We've all been there."

Raven was left without knowing what to say, until she looked over the girl's head and noticed the stream of water that would likely hit the raft right on top of the girl's head. "Water," she said, motioning above her.

The girl squealed and giggled as she barely escaped being drenched by the spitting water Olive Oil figure, thanking Raven and turning back to her friend on the other side of her.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"What's a little more water," Raven said sarcastically as she squeezed excess water right onto Robin's lap.

Robin looked up at her as he tied his shoes and laughed. "You look like—"

Raven held up a finger warningly. "I suggest you consider your next words _very_ carefully," she warned. "I know where you sleep."

Robin lowered his head to avoid looking at her and started work on his other shoe, the barely restrained shaking of his shoulders betraying his amusement regardless.

The others found them in the unloading area, still dripping and disheveled, Robin sitting on the bench struggling with his shoes while the flip-flop wearing Raven stood in front of him.

"Oh, I _so_ need to get a picture of this," Cyborg declared, whipping out the camera and taking a picture as Robin glanced with obvious patience at Raven while she kept squeezing water out of her t-shirt and hair right onto him. Then, deciding he needed one of them facing the camera to show the full-extent of the damage done, he called out to them.

"Yo! Rae! Rick! Over here!"

Later, Raven couldn't be sure how it happened. She knew only that when she turned quickly at the sound of her name being called, she somehow got caught up in Robin's legs, losing her balance and that Robin reached out to stop her from falling on the floor and that somehow, she didn't think she'd ever be sure quite how it happened, she ended up sitting on Robin's lap with a surprised look on her face, and one brown flip-flop falling off her foot when Cyborg snapped the picture.

It was an automatic reflex to push herself off him as soon as she realized it was his lap under her thighs, so when his arms didn't let her go, she fell back against him with as much surprise as she did the first time. She met his eyes for a moment, before turning away to hide her blush and meeting the eyes of the girl who had been sitting next to her on the ride.

She blushed even harder when the girl grinned and gave her a thumbs up, mouthing, 'atta-girl!' before walking away with her friend.

"You ok?" Robin asked, his tone amused.

That his voice was so close to her ear made the flush spread from her cheeks to her neck, and gave her more strength to tug herself out of his arms and stand. "Fine," she answered tightly, busying herself with searching for her flip-flop to avoid doing damage to her friends as they laughed.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
**Marvel Superhero Island  
The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman**  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Normally, that the building they were in was air-conditioned would definitely be a plus. The cold air pumping out of the vents they passed in the mock newspaper office would normally be a blessing. After all, compared to the over 90 degree heat in the park outside, even a stray breeze was heartily welcome.

Normally.

For Raven, however, the fact that she was wearing a khaki cotton t-shirt and that this very thin cotton t-shirt was still wet pretty much straight through and sticking to her still mostly damp skin (even though the shirt was no longer dripping, which was a notable improvement) made the cold inside the building torturous.

"Take my shirt," Robin repeated for the umpteenth time.

"No," Raven answered succinctly, also for the umpteenth time.

"But it's dry," Robin said, exasperated.

"Precisely," Raven replied, calm as if her teeth weren't just this side of chattering.

"You're freezing. I've got a dry shirt. And you won't take it?" Robin asked, incredulously.

"You took off the button down shirt before the wet rides and stayed in your t-shirt on purpose so that it wouldn't get wet."

"So?" Robin pressed.

"So, if I use it, it'll get wet."

Robin laughed. "But you'll be warm."

"Then why don't you wear it?" Raven countered.

"Because you need it more than I do," he answered simply.

Raven stared at him for a moment, but he simply waited.

"Children," Cyborg called from in front of them in his best 'father-knows-best' voice. "Can we stop arguing, please?"

"I will fix this!" Starfire added, the smile on her face clearly boding ill in Raven's mind. She stepped behind Robin, took his arms and draped them around Raven. "Now, no one is getting more wet, and no one's clothings are becoming ruined, and you are both warm," she cocked her head to look at them in that innocent-puppy way she had, "Yes?"

For a moment, neither of them moved, then a stray drop of water off Robin's hair fell on Raven's cheek and she blinked, and blinking, she seemed to remember she _could_ move.

When the cold water brought her out of her immobility, she started to step away from him, however Robin crossed his arms, effectually holding her in place.

"Not so fast, Rae," Robin said. "I think Kori's right. This _is_ warm."

"Joy!" Star announced happily.

Beast Boy looked at Cyborg in shocked surprise as Star advanced ahead of them in the line. "You think she's in the club?" he asked in a conspiratorial whisper.

Cyborg laughed. "I think she just usurped me as President."

Beast Boy grinned and bounded off after Star. "Great thinking, Kor-ster!"

Neither Raven nor Robin seemed interested in explaining to Star why Beast Boy had called her Kor-ster. Instead, holding perfectly still, Raven fought the urge to flee and managed a deadpan, "Give me the shirt."

Robin nudged Raven's legs into moving gently with his own and they advanced in line, a little awkwardly and stiffly, but otherwise without incident.

"Um…" Robin pretended to think about it. Raven glared, because it was obvious even to her.

"I don't know, Rae," Cyborg, holding the bag with Robin's shirt in it, said. "It seems to me that this way, you're both warmer, and not just one of you." He rubbed at his chin. "I think it's the only fair thing to do."

It was obvious Raven was attempting to follow Cyborg's logic. What was not obvious was how fiercely she was attempting to find a reason to defy that logic and _not_ have the boy she had not so long ago realized she found attractive have his arms around her. When some inner part of her thought to question _why_ it was a bad idea to have his arms around her again, Raven was very confused.

Robin, meanwhile, looked at Cyborg and smiled. "Yeah," Robin agreed, lowering his arms from around her neck to wrap around her waist. Raven had been so involved in her inner thoughts, the sudden shift of his position caught her by surprise and she inhaled sharply. Robin didn't seem to notice as he took a moment to settle his arms under hers to make certain they were comfortable and spoke to Cyborg. "Exactly."

"Richard," she said warningly, some of the effect being lost by the fact she could not look at him except at an angle.

"Rachel," he echoed. "Aren't you warmer?" he asked, grinning. "I know I am."

"That's not the point," she argued, allowing him to walk her forward another few steps in the line.

"What is the point?" Robin asked, Cyborg having walked on to stop Beast Boy from trying to touch the blue-green displays on the mock-up of news-writing desks.

"No, you _cannot_ eat the fake moldy sandwich!" Cyborg was saying.

"It looks just like the ones in our fridge!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"The point," Raven continued, "is that this is…"

"Yes?" Robin prompted.

"…unseemly."

Robin chuckled and she could feel the vibration of it against her back. Before she knew it, a slight shiver overtook her momentarily.

Of course, Robin was so close, he felt it. "Still cold?" he asked, his voice close to her ear. And before she could answer, his cheek was suddenly almost against hers and his hands began rubbing up and down her arms.

With a sigh, Raven admitted defeat and relaxed so he could rest his more easily around her. "No," she answered. "I'm not very cold at all right now."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Woohoo! That was _the BEST RIDE in the ENTIRE UNIVERSE!" _Beast Boy enthused, practically bounding off the ride.

The park employee grinned and high-fived the young changeling as they passed him.

"You said that about _Dueling Dragons_," Raven reminded him as Robin helped her out of the car.

"That's because we hadn't ridden _this _one yet," Beast Boy excused. "Can we ride it again?" he asked Robin who was helping Starfire off the ride as well.

"Later," Robin answered. "Let's ride everything once, and then we can do repeats."

Beast Boy bounced down the exit ramp, putting his arm around Raven's shoulders as he did so. "C'mon, Rae, you know you enjoyed it!" he cajoled. "I heard you laugh during that super mondo drop off the building."

Before Raven could deny or excuse, Cyborg chimed in from behind them. "And I heard her laugh when we got caught on Spiderman's spin," Cyborg brought up, coming alongside them.

Raven glared at him, but he ignored her.

"And she gasped when the Doc Oc's fire breathing weapon threatened us," Starfire pointed out.

Raven looked at Starfire as if she had betrayed her.

"Well," Robin said, coming up behind them. "At least we're dryer now."

Raven turned back to him and couldn't help but smirk briefly. "There is that."

"Also, we went on an adventure with a superhero we have never met before!" Starfire added. "And we did not even have to help."

Robin, Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy all looked at each other, but no one had the heart to explain the situation. And when they walked into the gift shop that served as an exit, they lost her to the lure of shopping.

Cyborg watched her flutter like a butterfly for a minute and was content to watch Robin and Raven discussing an item together, until he noticed exactly what they were looking at.

"Oooh! This is SOOO cool!" Beast Boy exclaimed, raising a Spiderman themed web gun.

"Oh _hell _no, you are _not_ buying another superhero's merchandise!" Cyborg said, pulling it out of Beast Boy's hands.

"But Vic!"

"No!" He turned to find Starfire looking interestingly at a tank top with Spiderman on it. "You either," he said, plucking it out of her hands, to her surprise.

"Oh, you are right," Starfire agreed, smiling. "We must wait to do the shopping until after we have ridden all the rides, as usual," she started for the exit of the shop.

"Then could _we_ get someone to do up some merchandise like this of us?" Beast Boy asked, sidling next to Cyborg. Cyborg glared and Beast Boy withered. "What?" he asked defensively. "It's cool! We'd make a killing!"

"Some one might want to stop Kori before she notices the Spiderman actor across the street," Raven said calmly walking up to them.

"Oh, look! Friend Spiderman!" Starfire said, glancing at them. "We must introduce ourselves!"

"Too late," Raven announced.

"Kori!" Cyborg called out. "Stop!"

Starfire stopped and turned back to them in confusion. "Why?"

Cyborg turned to Raven. "You want to explain to her?"

They were now close enough to the door that Raven got a close up view of the actor. "No," she answered Cyborg. "Actually, I think I want to say hello myself." And although Starfire's enthusiasm at her reply propelled them forward, she was stopped by Robin's grip on the back of her shirt. She turned back to look at him. "What?" she asked, a teasing hint of a grin lifting the corner of her mouth. "Don't you like Spiderman?"

Robin cocked his head to the side and gave her a look that made Raven feel, for a moment, as if she'd just caught the interest of a predator.

"Oh, I like Spiderman just fine," Robin answered. "I just had no idea _you_ even knew who he was."

"I don't," Raven answered. "But he seems…" she looked at the actor signing autographs and taking pictures. "…interesting."

"Oh, look!" Starfire said, interrupting his reply. "He is free of his fans now," she tugged on Raven's wrist and pulled her free of Robin. "Let us go introduce ourselves!" And with barely a glance backward, Starfire led them to the man in the blue and red _tight_ spandex suit.

"Dude," Beast Boy said, coming up next to Robin and looking at the girls in confusion as they (mostly Starfire) spoke to Spiderman. "It kind of looked like Rae was hot for Spiderman, didn't it?"

Robin glanced at Beast Boy, who was oblivious.

"You think she's getting the hang of flirting?" Beast Boy asked, finally turning away from where Starfire was having a running dialogue with Spiderman while Raven stood by to look at Robin.

"She's had enough examples," Robin said, half under his breath.

Beast Boy laughed. "Oh yeah," he agreed. "Guys have been throwing themselves at her and Kori like crazy these past days, haven't they?" Beast Boy shrugged. "I mean, they're hot, sure, but you'd think these guys had never seen a hot girl before."

Robin was looking at Beast Boy in outright surprise. "You think they're hot?" he asked.

Beast Boy laughed. "Dude, I'm not blind!" He shook his head. "Which is really weird, since they're like sisters to me, you know?" he confessed.

"I didn't know," Robin answered.

Beast Boy looked at him and smiled. "Why do you think I try to make Rae laugh so often?" he asked. "I've never had a big sister," his cheeks were growing a little pink, so he looked away, scratching at the back of his neck. "I want to see her happy."

Robin smiled at Beast Boy. "Yeah," he agreed. "Me too."

Beast Boy looked at him and grinned. "Glad to hear it," he smacked Robin's arm. "Now are you going to let your girl get hit on by a guy who wears tighter tights than you?" he asked.

Robin's jaw dropped. "What?"

"I mean, look at him!" Beast Boy said, motioning to Spiderman who was still talking to Raven and Starfire. "I mean, he's cool and all, but you're like the home team, man, and I'm rooting for you," he gave Robin a little push.

Robin blinked, trying to translate Beast Boy speak. _'Was he trying to say that…?'_

"Dude!" Beast Boy prodded. "What are you waiting for?" Beast Boy poked his shoulder. "Go get her." When Robin's eyes opened up wide as realization dawned, Beast Boy smiled.

"What do you mean 'my girl'?" Robin asked.

"Raven, of course," Beast Boy said. "I mean, I understand you're trying to take it slow with making her realize how you feel and all that, but I think if you're too subtle…" he trailed off and motioned to Spiderman. "I mean, look!" Beast Boy narrowed his eyes at Robin and whispered worriedly, "He's _leaning_, man, you know what that means!"

Robin looked from Beast Boy to Cyborg who was looking at some of Spiderman's merchandise in abject disgust.

"Oh, he's figured it out already too," Beast Boy told him. "Don't worry, he's in _The Club_."

Robin wasn't as surprised that Cyborg had figured it out (he hadn't exactly been what a normal person not Raven would call subtle) but he was still surprised about Beast Boy. "Wait," Robin raised a hand. "The _'Club'_?"

Beast Boy grinned widely. "We've got your back, man," he said. He winced as he remembered something. "Oh, but I should say that as President, Vic has ruled that if you hurt her on purpose, he'll 'rip your insides out and feed them to rabid dogs'," Beast Boy backed up at Robin's look of surprise. "His words, not mine," he assured him. "Anyway…you wait any longer and Spiderman'll offer to let her know if he wears boxers or briefs!"

Suddenly, Cyborg seemed to realize what was going on with Starfire, Raven and Spiderman as he came alongside Beast Boy and Robin. "Oh, man, you're kidding me? The theme actor is flirting with them now?" He started to walk, determinately, toward the girls when Robin put a hand out, stopping him.

"I'll handle this one, Mr. President," Robin said, grinning at Cyborg before walking toward the girls.

Cyborg looked at him happily for a moment until what he said filtered through and he turned a glare on Beast Boy. "You told him I was President?" he demanded.

Beast Boy smiled wryly. "Well, you did say I had to talk to him!"

"But not tell him our positions!" Cyborg shook his head. "Man, you're no good at this kind of intrigue, are you?"

"I got him to go, didn't I?" Beast Boy defended.

Cyborg watched as Robin stepped next to Raven and faced Spiderman, and he didn't even need to hear what Robin would tell him to know the actor would get the picture. "Yeah, you did." Cyborg grinned at Beast Boy, high-fiving the shorter boy. "Good job."

"Can we get some ice cream now?" Beast Boy asked as Robin approached with the girls in tow.

"I vote yes," Raven spoke.

"Is that all the food they have around here?" Cyborg asked, looking around.

Robin and Raven both sighed.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
**Marvel Superhero Island  
Doctor Doom's Fearfall  
**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"You have _got_ to be kidding."

No one bothered to look at Cyborg as they were too enthralled, following the rapid upward push of the ride and the even more rapid downward fall, accompanied by screams both ways, with their eyes.

"I do not believe they kid you, Victor," Starfire spoke, watching as after a few moments, the same thing happened again.

"So, wait…" Cyborg said, looking at his friends. "The whole purpose of this ride is just to shoot you up in the air and then slam you back down?!" he asked. When Beast Boy and Robin nodded, he shook his head emphatically. "No thank you. I think I'll pass."

Beast Boy laughed. "You're afraid of a little bitty ride?" he teased. "Mr. Stomach-of-Steel?"

"It's not my stomach I'm worried about," Cyborg answered.

"C'mon, Vic, it's just a ride," Robin said.

"Yeah, what could happen?" Beast Boy added.

"It appears most safe," Starfire added.

"Look," Cyborg said. "I'm not worried about it being safe or not," he admitted. "I get that it's safe, otherwise it wouldn't be here," he admitted. "But I don't like the sensation of falling, I just don't, and that's all this is, so…" he looked around. "You guys enjoy. There will be _no_ shooting of my carcass up 150 feet in the air just to slam it back down. Uh-uh." He smiled at them. "I'll be over there," he motioned a place off to the right, "there's a hoagie at that _Café 4 _food court place with my name on it." He started walking out of the alley where the Dr. Doom's ride was located.

"Where do you think you're going?" Robin's voice stopped him.

Cyborg turned around to explain the situation _again_, only to find Raven at his heels. Cyborg laughed. "Oh-oh, Dark Girl," Cyborg said. "Looks like they caught you trying to escape."

Raven turned to face Robin. "I would like a hoagie as well," she added.

Robin raised a brow while Starfire and Beast Boy laughed. "If you don't want to ride, all you have to do is say so."

Raven squared her shoulders. "I don't want to ride."

"Okay, then…" Robin took her hand in his and began leading her back toward the ride. "Now that you've got that out of your system, let's get in line."

Raven suddenly planted her feet and Robin had to stop or risk pulling her off balance. "I think I prefer to sit this one out with Victor," she insisted.

"Rae," Robin started, but she pursed her lips and shook her head and it stopped him. He looked back at the ride and Cyborg's description of the essential element of the ride came back to him and it occurred to him that she might not like falling either. "Okay," he said, smiling. He felt the tension in her arm relax and turned to face Beast Boy and Starfire. "You guys go on ahead," he told them. "We'll be at the hoagie place."

"What?" Beast Boy asked. "You're not riding! Aw, man!" he rushed at them. "You've gotta ride this! It's like the most intense ride in the park!"

"Nah," Robin said. "Rae wants a hoagie and I'm really thirsty."

"But you had said you wanted to ride this last night!" Beast Boy reminded him. "Remember? You thought it would be cool."

"Maybe later," Robin answered.

Raven looked from Beast Boy to Robin in confusion, finally turning to find Cyborg's eyes on her. She must have looked at confused as she felt because Cyborg smiled knowingly at her, as if he were proud of her, but she hadn't done anything except refuse to ride a ride which obviously Robin had looked forward to riding. Why would he do that, she wondered. Why would he refuse to do something he had obviously been looking forward to doing because she didn't want to ride? She wouldn't be alone since Cyborg was not going to be riding the ride either.

"I won't be alone," she said suddenly, tugging on Robin's hand for his attention. "Victor will be with me," she motioned to Cyborg as if he hadn't realized it already.

Robin smiled at her. "I know," he said simply.

Raven frowned and Starfire was suddenly beside her, arms on her shoulders.

"It is alright, friend," Starfire assured her. "Garfield and I shall ride alone."

"Dude, that sucks," Beast Boy said as he followed Starfire toward the express entrance to the ride.

They didn't move as Beast Boy and Starfire entered the line, and Raven turned to watch Robin, watching them and something inside her clicked. She realized with a sudden clarity that something was different – she wasn't sure if it was only the way she felt inside when she looked at him now, or if he _was_ acting different with her, too, but she knew she wouldn't mind getting on _Dr. Doom's_ _Fearfall_ as much as she thought.

With a sigh, she clasped his hand still in hers and started forward toward the entrance, trailing Robin along behind her in surprise.

"Rae?" he asked.

"I changed my mind," she answered simply, waving behind her at Cyborg who watched them go with a shrug and a laugh.

"I'll save a hoagie for when you get out!" Cyborg called out.

"Great, thanks," Raven called back flatly as Robin showed the attendant their express passes. They caught up to Beast Boy and Starfire who were overjoyed to see them, and when they stopped at the end of the line and waited, Raven looked up at the nearest screen just in time to see the dramatization of the way the ride took place. She was so enthralled that she didn't even notice when Robin put his arm around her shoulder, firmly anchoring her in place. At least, she didn't notice it until she turned to find his face incredibly close.

"Richard," she said seriously.

"Yeah?" he asked, half his attention on the scenery around them.

"I'm not going to disappear now that I'm here," she told him.

"Alright," he said.

Raven waited a beat, but when he didn't move, she rolled her eyes. "You have my word," she added.

"Mm-hmm, I understand," he confirmed, still looking at the scenery around him.

She sighed. "I did agree of my own free will to come on the ride," she reminded him.

He turned to her and grinned. "And I'm glad."

He was obviously missing the point. "Since I won't try to escape, that means you can let go of me," she explained with patience.

He looked at her and smiled. "I don't want to."

Raven frowned. "You don't believe me."

Robin laughed. "I do," he assured her.

Raven frowned even harder. "You don't," she insisted. "Or you wouldn't feel the need to keep holding on to me."

Robin's smile changed slightly. "Unless I'm holding on to you for another reason entirely."

Suddenly aware of how she could feel the way his chest expanded and retracted with each breath, Raven felt her mouth go slightly dry. "Such as?" she asked.

It took him a moment to decide on an answer, and because she could see that hesitation in his eyes, she was left wondering what he might have said, even after he answered, "I'm comfortable."

She turned, his arm still around her, just enough to look at him in the face. "Do I look like an arm chair?" she asked dryly.

He laughed. "No," he admitted. "You're much cuter."

She attempted to shrug off his arm to no avail and refused to resort to an out-and-out skirmish as if she were five years old. She turned to look for aid, but both Starfire and Beast Boy were completely and utterly engrossed in the story of the ride fed to them along the queue. So she did was she usually did in these sorts of situations: she ignored it.

"What is this ride supposed to be about anyway?" she asked, looking at the monitors. It had occurred to her just then that she was mostly unaware of the obviously involved and apparently engrossing storylines of most of the rides they had been on. She glanced at Robin and knew with certainty that it was his fault.

"That," Robin pointed over her shoulder, leaning in against her back to do so, "is Doctor Doom, arch nemesis of the Fantastic Four."

"Never heard of them," Raven said seriously.

"Not surprising," Robin said. "They're comic book heroes," he admitted matter-of-factly.

"I see," she said. "So, this Doctor Doom…" Raven pondered. "What does he want?"

"World domination…what else?" Robin smirked.

Raven nodded. "What else indeed."

_xxxxxxxxxx_

Cyborg watched as his friends made their way from the exit of the ride. He took another forkful of his cheesecake and smirked. They had obviously enjoyed the ride. If there were walls, Beast Boy would be jumping off them. Starfire looked a little green around the gills, but was mostly smiling. And although Raven was smiling as well, she wobbled after a few steps. Cyborg started to move toward her, but Robin took a hold of her elbow, steadying her. Raven actually laughed as she regained her balance, her own hand touching Robin's at her elbow.

"Looks like you enjoyed yourselves!" Cyborg greeted as they approached.

"Victor, you _have _to try that!"

Cyborg grinned at Raven, "You certainly enjoyed it."

Raven smiled. "It was fast."

"DUDE, that drop was _sick_!" Beast Boy exclaimed, coming up alongside Raven. "It was _totally_ fast! Like _zooooom _fast! Like faster than a racecar, and ohmygod, it was hella high!"

"I must agree with Garfield," Starfire said as she came up to them. "The drop was, indeed, sickening."

Raven looked at Starfire and smiled. "Are you alright?"

"I believe I need to use the facilities," Starfire admitted.

Raven looked around and pointed. "I think there are bathrooms over there," she took Starfire's arm and with a glance back at the boys to make certain they knew where they were going, led her in the direction of the bathrooms.

"I do not enjoy falling quickly without a way to stop," Starfire mused. "Although the stopping suddenly was quite exciting, like a small _ragnork_."

Raven looked a question at Starfire, so she explained. "Something good, but unexpected."

"Ah," Raven said as they stepped into the bathroom. "You didn't have to worry," Raven told her. "Richard wouldn't have let anything happen to us."

Starfire stopped just shy of entering the bathroom and pulled back to look at Raven. She smiled when Raven met her eyes. "It is good you are starting to recognize this."

Raven fought off her instinctual response as she realized how Starfire had interpreted her remark, and walked ahead of Starfire into the bathroom. Laughing, Starfire followed her.

_xxxxxxxxx_

Raven should have been surprised that Star had come out of the bathroom before she had, but she was too surprised at what Star was doing to even realize the oddity of Star's quickness in front of a mirror.

From a few feet away, Raven watched as Star laughed with a blonde teen. Although she couldn't make out what was actually said, as the boy-man leaned toward Star, Raven gaped with delayed recognition. In retrospect, she wasn't exactly surprised at _what _they were doing – no, that a heterosexual male of comparable age found it enjoyable to flirt with her friend wasn't very surprising at all. The astonishment, in point of fact, stemmed much more from the fact that Raven could recognize it.

From the clarity offered by distance and a certain amount of detachment, Raven could clearly see the signs of flirtation the others had spoken about and she was thereby torn. As soon as Cyborg and Robin noticed, she was certain they would turn into overprotective siblings once again.

Cyborg would approach and the apparently animated blond would feel (correctly, probably) that Cyborg was coming to take the skin off his bones, while after five minutes of talking to Robin would make the poor boy wonder just why he thought it was a good idea to start talking to Starfire in the first place.

She had seen it happen before and knew that it would not be pretty. Informative, perhaps, but certainly not pretty.

Knowing that further observation would indeed provide useful, and likely invaluable, examples and insight into the confusing realm of flirtation which had become such a point of contention the whole of the last week put Raven in quite a moral quandary.

On the one hand, she didn't wish for Starfire to suffer through the boys making more fuss about whether or not she were flirting or was being flirted with. Starfire was sensitive, she knew, and if she sensed they were upset or that she had caused a disruption of their overall harmony, she would be distressed. And, she supposed, there were the feelings of the hapless boy to consider as well.

On the other hand, however, was the promise of knowledge, and she might therefore, be forgiven for being unable to make herself move to save the smiling boy from her teammates – not when Star was laughing and intent as if the teen in front of her was the most interesting person she had ever met. And watching them, Raven realized that to Star, in that moment, he was.

Then again, the way Starfire was acting was the way Starfire always approached every new thing and every new person. Raven knew this.

So, why was Raven so sure that not only was the boy flirting with Starfire, but that Starfire was flirting back?

Raven watched as Starfire flipped her hair over her shoulder, laughing at something the boy said and in response, the boy smiled at her and leaned forward. By the time Starfire leaned forward herself enough to playfully push at his arm, Raven _finally_ got it – the _Leaning Principle_.

But before she could survey any more of these elusive principles, she felt Robin approaching and it jolted her out of observer mode and back into friend mode. For a moment she stood indecisive – unsure if it might be best to approach Star or stall and distract Robin, but she had apparently been too preoccupied with Starfire's expertise in the art of flirtation to notice Robin's presence until it was too late and he was next to her before she thought he'd be and the decision of her approach was made for her.

"Hey, Rae," he greeted.

Raven turned only to find him looking right at Starfire. She braced herself for his reaction, and opened her mouth to attempt to distract him in some way, scowering her mind for something that might do the trick, when an observation about the safety protocols for a park this size died unuttered when he laughed.

"Wow—" he said in her shocked silence. "Star's _really_ good at that flipping hair thing, isn't she?" he asked, turning to her with a smile.

Raven frowned, and the fact that he had essentially verbalized the same thought she'd had moments before was only one-third of the reason for it.

Robin noticed her frown and laughed. "You look the way you do when you're trying to figure out what Garfield made for dinner."

Raven frowned even harder, "That boy is flirting with Kori."

Robin nodded and looked back in Star's direction. "Yep," he agreed. "That's what flirting looks like alright."

He had obviously misunderstood her statement and she sought clarification by asking, "And you aren't going to stop it?"

Robin stilled for a moment, then he shrugged and looked back at her. "Nope." He kept her eyes for a few moments before crossing his arms over his chest, "Why should I?"

Raven was about to tell him that it was a logical assumption since he had been stopping it every time someone 'flirted' with them, but stopped herself and scowled. He obviously wasn't stopping it every time someone flirted with Starfire, as the present situation could attest, but he had stopped it every time someone flirted and she was around – even if she was the only one there like the time with the guy before the parade in Magic Kingdom and the guy on the safari in Animal Kingdom and the time in front of –

'_Wait – what?_'Raven wondered. Was he only stopping people from flirting with her? Raven shook her head. She didn't have enough data to form a viable conclusion. There had only been this one time that someone had flirted with Starfire independently in his view.

"I can't speak for Victor, though," Robin's voice broke into her analysis.

Raven looked at the exit of the bathroom which Cyborg and Beast Boy were currently walking through.

"Where's Kori?" Cyborg asked, looking around for her distinctive red hair.

"Well…" Robin started, but Cyborg had already found her and was glaring as expected.

With a determined air and muttering darkly under his breath, Cyborg started toward the pair, but Beast Boy's resounding voice calling out over him stopped him cold.

"Hey, KORI!" Beast Boy exclaimed at the top of his lungs, jumping up and down and waving. "Come on!" he added when she turned to look at them (along with half their immediate area.) "We're riding _The Hulk_ next!"

Star laughed and waved, turning back to offer a quick word of farewell and a smile to the boy before bounding in their direction. "I made a new friend!" she announced as she approached.

Cyborg gave the boy the evil eye before turning back toward the others. And as he passed Robin and Raven, they could hear him muttering about "damn perverty spring breakers."

Robin laughed and turned to Raven. "I guess we're riding that next," he pointed to where everyone was heading.

Raven looked at the green tracks that seemed to dominate the back of Marvel Island and smiled a little. "Looks promising."

Robin chuckled and draped an arm casually over her shoulder, "Come on, Roller Coaster Buddy."

Raven let him lead her, remarking, "Have you been spending more time with Larry?" as they walked, but for the first time that whole week, it occurred to her that Robin seemed to be touching her quite a bit.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
**Marvel Superhero Island  
Incredible Hulk Coaster  
**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

The Hulk Rollercoaster's line was different than most any of the lines they had been on the entire week. There were monitors telling the story of the ride's hero, of course, and the plot behind the "story" of the ride itself, and there were also many things prop wise to keep their interest, and yet the inside of the building itself was rather sparse compared to the detail of some of the others they had been in.

Perhaps this was the reason why they were all standing sedately in line, watching the monitors or looking around, without necessarily talking.

Raven, for her part, found herself much more observant of the people around them than she had previously been. She had seen couples together before, of course, and knew how they acted, but she had never given much scrutiny to those that were yet to become couples.

Now, after watching Starfire and the blonde boy, she seemed to be able to pick them out even in the midst of the people in the winding lines around them.

There, some distance behind them, was a boy who was smiling and making funny faces at a girl around the bend of the line from him, much to the girl's amusement if her giggling could be taken into consideration. Behind them, she noticed a girl, slightly older than they were, talking and laughing with a boy, who seemed almost dazed by her attention while her hand lightly brushed his arm more than once. And further in front of them, where the line began to slope upwards onto the ramp, there was a girl leaning against the metal rail while a boy she was talking to had a hand on either side of her as they talked.

Raven blinked, the image strikingly familiar.

Before she could explore the memory, however, Beast Boy settled along the rail beside her and sighed. "You know," he started pensively and paused. The others stopped their own musings to look at him in expectation of what he wanted to say to them. "I've been thinking…"

Raven rolled her eyes and looked at the monitor nearest them as the cartoon continued. "I'll alert the media," she announced in her signature deadpan.

Her friends laughed, but Raven made no recognition of her joke or that Beast Boy himself was currently glaring at her.

"Seriously, guys," Beast Boy insisted.

Cyborg sighed and made a show of offering him his full attention. "About?"

Beast Boy was quiet for a minute, looking from one to the other of them. "I think _the_ _Hulk_ is my long-lost father."

None of them reacted for a moment or two until finally realizing that there was no punch line following Beast Boy's absurd declaration, Cyborg and Raven turned to find one another, sharing a look.

Raven knew what Cyborg wanted with that look, but she would have none of it.

Sighing again, Cyborg tried to be patient. "You don't have a long-lost father," he reminded him. "You've known your father all your life." When neither of those statements seemed to affect Beast Boy's look of conviction, he tried a more blunt approach. "You were never adopted, Garfield."(7)

Beast Boy pouted. "I could've been adopted and they just could've not told me."

Cyborg shook his head. "Don't you have blood tests that you did for another reason?"

Beast Boy pulled away from the rail, "But they _might_ be wrong!"

"The probability of that is 1001 to .02," Cyborg pointed out.(8)

"A-ha!" Beast Boy exclaimed, joyous. "So there _is _a chance!"

Robin, apparently having had enough of the potentially endlessly circular argument decided to intervene, taking a different approach. "Why do you think _the Hulk_ could be your father, Gar?" he asked.

Beast Boy grinned at Robin. "Well," he started. "He's green…" he ticked off on one finger. "And he shapeshifts!" he ticked off on his second finger and waited, grinning for the marvel of his logic to sink in.

"He doesn't shift into animals at all, Gar," Robin replied logically.

"So we have different abilities," Garfield excused.

"But he doesn't shape shift on purpose, either," Cyborg insisted.

Beast Boy thought about that one for a few moments. "So he hasn't honed his abilities yet," he decided. After a moment of thought, however, he grinned. "The son has surpassed the father!" he decided. "Woohoo!! I'm better than dad!"

"He is _not_ your dad!" insisted Cyborg, obviously losing patience.

Beast Boy looked at Cyborg as if the older teen had kicked his puppy. "Are you trying to take away my heritage?"

"_What_ heritage?!" Cybrog asked. "You were born in Iowa."(9)

Pouting, Beast Boy turned hurt eyes to Cyborg. "Why you gotta hate, man?"

Into Cyborg's incredulous silence and Starfire's muffled laughter, Raven spoke for the first time. "He's not green all the time."

Cyborg and Beast Boy, apparently ready to continue their argument, stopped to stare at her.

"How do you know that?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven pointed up to the screen above their heads. "See?" she said as the cartoon showed how a brown haired man with glasses turned into the Hulk. "He's a doctor by the name of Bruce Banner most of the time," Raven explained. "Unless he gets angry, then he goes green."

Cyborg grinned at her. "Like you go red when you get really angry?" he asked cheekily.

"I'm much better now," Raven replied, a smirk belying the seriousness of her tone.

"And it appears he does not like being this Hulk either," Starfire announced, frowning as she watched the screen. "He is not very happy." She glanced at her friends. "May we help him?"

"That's what we're here for, Kori," Cyborg told her. "See? He's invented this machine, the roller coaster, which takes our energies and helps him." Cyborg pointed to the screen as on it, Bruce Banner detailed his plan.

"Oh, but I did not wish to go on the coaster of rollers," she confessed. "I was only here for company until you were ready to get inside."

"You don't have to, Kori," Robin assured her.

"Aw, c'mon, Kori! This is sooo cool!" Beast Boy insisted. "Besides, you can't snub my dad like that!"

"I do not mean to snub your make believe father, Garfield, it is only that --"

"Don't encourage him Kori," Raven interrupted.

"We understand that you don't like roller coasters, Kori, that's alright," Cyborg told her with a smile. Starfire smiled in relief at Cyborg.

"So since Robin will ride with Raven, does that mean I have to ride with you?" Beast Boy asked on a mock whine.

"Oh, if that's how it is, you can ride it by your damn self," Cyborg exclaimed, offended.

"Why you keep hatin' man?" Beast Boy asked.

"Can we pretend not to know them?" Raven asked Robin, loud enough for the other two to hear.

Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at each other and Raven had a split second to suspect what his plan was before Cyborg's hefty arms surrounded her, lifting her up about ten inches off the ground.

"Aw, we love you, Rae!" Cyborg said, snuggling the top of her head.

"Put me down, please," Raven managed.

"This is my little sister, Rachel, y'all," Cyborg announced to the people who were looking at them in the line. "She definitely knows me and this monkey," he motioned to Beast Boy who was laughing.

Raven turned unexpressive eyes to Robin and wondered, "Is this what you call being friendly?"

Robin laughed even harder. "Sort of," he admitted. "Only less…enthusiastic."

Knowing that struggling was pointless, she let Cyborg carry her forward in line and only sighed.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
**Port of Entry  
Islands of Adventure Trading Co.  
Shopping**  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

It was a strange sort of tired that Raven felt as the Titans dispersed into the first of many stores at the park with an energy previously only displayed when entering battles or pizza joints. They had promised Starfire they'd visit the stores before the fireworks show began and the park closed.

Of course, she recognized that the blame for such a peculiar sense of idiosyncrasy could be due to leftover vertigo from riding Storm Force Acceleration (or, as Beast Boy had taken to calling it, _'Storm's Teacups'_) not once, but _twice_ in quick succession followed by a whirlwind tour of every fast ride in the park. Another large bit of the blame for the feeling that she was not in quite the same world she had been in earlier in the day had to be thanks to her utter fatigue.

It was a testament to this strange mood that she allowed herself to consider thoughts that she'd normally be much too logical to allow herself to consider – thoughts such as that the park did look rather _cool_ at night when all the lights and rides served as beacons against Florida's signature blue-black sky. There was something ethereal about it all, much more even than the fantasy laden skyline of any of the other parks they had been to that week.

It leant an air to Raven's overall sense of _strangeness_…a detachment almost.

Certainly it was a mixture of how tired she was, the rush of the rides and the overall feel of otherworldiness of the park that had her feeling so…confused?

'_Am I confused?'_ she wondered. It had occurred to her repeatedly as one way or another Robin and she continuously rode the rides together, that perhaps – just perhaps – Robin's actions the last few days might have been considered (by some) to be flirtatious in nature.

She turned in the doorway, away from her inspection of the park and looked inside the brightly lit Islands of Adventure Trading Market. Completely of their own accord, with absolutely no input from any other part of her, her eyes fell on Robin, just inside the store near one of the first displays, riffling through t-shirts with Jurassic Park logos on them, presumably looking for his size.

When an errant breeze raised the hairs on the back of her neck, she unconsciously wrapped the open halves of the blue pinstripe shirt closed, tucking her hands inside the warmth and inhaling what she recognized immediately as the smell of Robin. The irony that she ended up wearing his shirt after all didn't escape her, despite the fact she was still slightly moist from riding the wet rides that afternoon. As soon as the sun went down and the weather had turned even the slightest bit cool and minimally breezy, Robin had put the shirt around her without even asking for permission and without waiting around for her to turn the offer down.

Something stirred inside at the thought, but she couldn't place it. And when she tried, all she got was a different kind of feeling – a mixture of fear and expectation – inevitability – like when she stood on the brink of a battle she was mostly certain she'd win – like that moment after the rollercoaster crests the first peak, but just before it falls…

Anticipation.

A small kernel of an idea had occurred to her not long after her first consideration of the possibility of Robin's partiality before they rode _Dr. Doom's Fearfall _and had squatted in the back corner of her brain, despite her attempts to terminate the thought process. And even though she knew it was there, tenaciously holding on to the small corner of her psyche from which she could not exorcise it, she had steadfastly refused to give it weight or substance. Had managed, mostly, to ignore it. Now, however, she couldn't seem to ignore it – couldn't seem to stop noticing things – remembering things…

Things like how as they walked in front of the _Poseidon's Fury_ area and it was all lit up to unsettling effect, she was reminded of (and couldn't seem to shake) the memory of Robin's hand in hers or how completely she had calmed while he held it.

Which naturally brought up the memory of the time they rode the _Haunted Mansion_ in the Magic Kingdom and how it felt to be in his arms even for the few moments when she almost used her power against a Disney cast member who scared her.

Logically, that memory reminded her of the feeling of safety and intense awareness of his physical presence she felt when he held onto her waist from behind in _Dudley's Rip Saw Falls_, quickly followed by the memory of the warmth his arms provided while they were in line to ride _Spiderman_.

She felt something akin to a blush rise to her cheeks as she started to wonder about every moment they had touched, every moment he had touched her, and what his motivations might have been.

In short, she couldn't help but think of every way in which Robin had been aware of her the last week – every way he had let her know that he was there for her, not just the last week, but for much longer than she could even pinpoint.

The insight startled her and she looked away from him lest he should take note of her there and see something on her face she wasn't ready to show quite yet.

Of course her attention was drawn to the perky, tall red-head across the room. Despite herself, she remembered the words Star had spoken that night after Magic Kingdom.

'_If you do not know, you will soon. I know he will make certain of it.'_(10)

Was he letting her know? Could he have been trying to let her know all along?

Suddenly, the conversation they had that first day in Magic Kingdom as they waited for the nighttime parade came back to her as if he were somehow speaking them directly into her ear: _'I'll try to be more clear from now on.'_

Perhaps he was being clear, but Raven wasn't certain she understood about what. If he was flirting with her, what did that mean? If he was making a point of spending more time with her, what would that show other than that he enjoyed being with her? A fact she hadn't ever really been in doubt about. That Robin and she got along well was not a surprise to her. They always had.

Yet…he had never been so obvious about touching her before – for all their friendship.

And if she were honest with herself, she would have to admit that she didn't mind.

Okay, so she would have to admit that she actually rather enjoyed it. Every time he touched her, it made her feel warm and safe. It sparked something like electricity in whatever part of her he happened to touch – a current that ran through the rest of her body, reminding her she was alive.

But not at first. At first, it made her feel hot and hyper-aware of things, like her heart beat and his, the pulse of his aura, the heat from his skin, the strength in his hands…

Ultimately, the truth of the matter was that there was no way to know for sure unless she tested it. She walked into the store, instinctively knowing that Robin was just off to her left and wondering how she could test her newly developed theory when she felt eyes watching her. She stopped, coincidentally in front of a display of Dueling Dragons merchandise, and turned.

It didn't surprise her that there was someone looking at her, and when the sandy-haired boy, taller than her by at least a head, caught her eyes and smiled, Raven's first reaction was to turn away. In her defense, it took her less than five seconds for it to sink in that the boy might have been flirting with her, and probably another two seconds to realize the possibilities inherent in the situation.

Flirting couldn't be so hard, could it?

She turned to the boy once again, taking a moment to take in his easy smile lifting the left corner of an average looking mouth, messy but clean hair, and pleasant looking eyes.

He raised a hand in a sheepish sort of gesture of greeting and took two steps closer to her. "Hi, I'm Kendall."

Raven turned fully to face him and _didn't frown_. "Rachel."

_xxxxxxxxx_

It had occurred to Robin as he eagerly searched through the men's t-shirts, that for the first time in days, he didn't immediately know just where Raven was, when he glanced up and saw her standing by the door looking around.

His first instinct was to call to her, or walk to her to shake her out of her thoughtfulness, but in the end, but he decided against it. After all, he had picked up on a slight change in her behavior toward him. She had seemed more aware somehow, he could even swear she had been fighting off a blush once or twice. He smiled as he remembered it had all started after the _Dudley Do-Right _ride.

It had surprised him to find her staring at him, and then he had felt his breath catch at the look on her face. The truth of the matter was that teasing her about it, making it a joke and giving her a way to play it off had been as much for his benefit as hers.

For the first time in a long time, he had almost acted without thinking. It scared him to think how close he had been.

When they came into the shops, he had decided to give her space. She seemed a little overwhelmed with it all, and he knew she needed space and time to think things through – time and space alone, which he also knew the circumstances of their vacation had afforded her precious little of.

So he wouldn't go to her, wouldn't call to her – he'd give her space.

With that resolution firmly in mind, he waited until he had found the shirt in the appropriate size to casually look up again in a brief check of his surroundings. He found Beast Boy and Cyborg arguing over the Spiderman toys and Starfire mooning over the unicorn stuffed animals and Raven by the display of _Dueling Dragon_ memorabilia talking to a guy.

Seemingly…willingly…talking to a guy.

Robin watched as the guy ran a hand through his unkempt hair and shifted on worn flip flops, but still managed to get closer to her, and Raven didn't move. She didn't blow him off, didn't shift away, didn't so much as frown.

Robin frowned enough for the both of them, _'What the hell?'_

"…don't like Dragons, actually," Raven was saying as Robin approached from behind.

"Really?" the guy asked, smirking lopsidedly. "I think they're kind of cool."

Raven scoffed. "That's because you've never met one."

The guy laughed as if she'd made a joke and Raven looked at him, curiosity plain in her face. "You're a riot, Rache."

"I'm a regular nightclub comic, that's me," Raven answered.

"So, you down here for spring break, then?" he asked, leaning against the wall and forward toward her.

"Just vacation," she answered. "We didn't know it was spring break week when we came down here."

"Where're you from?" he inquired.

"Jump City, California," she answered automatically.

The guy whistled, "You're pretty far from home, huh?"

"Where are you from?" she asked.

The boy smiled. "Tampa," he answered. "But I was born and bred just east of here, actually – I'm only in Tampa because I'm going to college there."

There was a pause and it took Raven a moment to realize that she was supposed to make some sort of comment at this point. She would've realized sooner, but she was distracted by the fact that she could feel Robin's gaze on her…on _them_. "What do you study?" Raven inquired.

Kendall smiled. "Just the basics," he admitted rather sheepishly. "I'm still a freshman, haven't decided what I want to major in yet."

She realized how close Kendall was only as a consequence of noting how close Robin was. She thought this might be the moment when Starfire would toss her hair, but she was certain she wouldn't quite be able to pull off that move, so she settled on a loose smile instead.

Kendall grinned wide at her response and plowed right on, filling the silence Raven wasn't sure how to. "How about you?" he asked, leaning against the wall. "You a California native?"

Raven paused before answering, "No—" she hesitated for a moment. "Not a native," she shook her head a little and because she knew the natural flow of the conversation should have her offering up where she was from, she reiterated the first word in the hopes he wouldn't notice that she didn't offer it up. "No."

"You there for school then?" he asked.

"Yes," Raven answered. "I'm not in college yet, though," she admitted. "I go to a private boarding school."

"Sweet!" he enthused. "So you get to be away from your parents even before going away to college!"

Raven pressed her lips together in what was interpreted as a smile.

"Where you from originally then?" he asked.

She felt Robin step closer and faltered in her lie for a moment. Robin must have figured out she knew he was nearby, because he chose that moment to intercede.

"Can't you tell from her accent?" Robin asked, coming up behind her and standing next to her. He reached behind her to lean one hand against the wall.

Raven looked at him, wondering where he was going with this and realized with sudden insight that he was actually leaning into her space.

Kendall caught the way Raven glanced at him calmly and figured out she must know him, so he answered. "Nah, I suck at telling accents," he said, turning a smile to Raven. "It sounds pretty standard to me."

"Exactly," Robin said, as if it should have been obvious. Kendall, of course, didn't grasp his meaning.

Raven glanced at him in curiosity before he raised his brows and turned, outstretched hand toward the boy and society grin in place. "Hey, I'm Richard," he greeted.

"This is Kendall," Raven introduced. "We were just talking."

Robin's smile changed just slightly as he turned to Raven. "So I saw…" he turned back to Kendall. "And you still can't figure out where she's from?" he asked playfully. "At least the geographic region?"

"Nope," Kendall admitted good naturedly enough.

Robin tsked and shook his head. "What a shame…" he said, turning to Raven. "Get any shopping done?"

Raven shook her head. "I don't need to do any shopping," she explained. "I've already bought gifts for everyone."

Robin raised a brow. "Didn't you say you wanted to get Timmy some dinosaur stuff from Jurassic Island?"

"I did," Raven admitted.

"And a Cat In the Hat toy for Teether?" Robin pressed.

"I don't see any Dr. Seuss things here," Raven answered.

"They're over on the other side of the store, through there," he pointed.

Raven looked in the direction and Robin called her attention again. "How about this?" he raised a t-shirt in front of him in her view. It was khaki and had the Jurassic Park logo on the back and an InGen Staff logo stitched over the breast. "What do you think?" Robin asked, face hidden behind the t-shirt.

Raven raised a brow. "I think it's too small for you."

Robin laughed. "For Timmy," he answered. "Isn't this about his size?"

"Yes," she admitted. "But I think he'd prefer a dinosaur toy rather than a t-shirt."

"I think he's getting too old for toys," Robin argued. "He'd probably be the only one around him to have a t-shirt like this."

Raven raised her other brow. "He still wears his toy cape and clutches his blanket, Richard," she pointed out. "I think he'd still be interested in a toy."

"Fine," Robin said, smirking in that way that let her know he thought he'd won even if he was conceding. He angled toward her, that smile still on his lips, as if he were going to sniff her. "So buy him the toy." He folded the shirt neatly in his hands. "_I'll_ get him this shirt."

Raven smirked in response and didn't give an inch. It didn't occur to her to wonder about the invasion of her personal space. "Fine," she countered. "But then you'll have to get each of the other Maulers something too." Robin looked at her in surprise and it was her turn to look superior. "First law of kids," she said haughtily, "Never get one kid more than any of their siblings or all hell breaks loose."

Robin frowned for a moment and leaned back, rocking on the heels of his shoes, then brightened and it wasn't until he slanted forward, the space between them suddenly narrowed again that she realized what he was doing. "Not a problem…I know just what to get Teether too," he grinned.

Raven blinked at him, calculating just how many times Robin had been this close to her in the last seven days since they'd been in Florida and how exactly it was that she hadn't noticed it. Remembering their conversation, Raven crossed her arms and refused to lean back. "How about Melvin?" Why hadn't her personal boundary alarms warned her every time he was getting close, she wondered. How could she be so aware of him usually and yet so unaware of all the little ways he had taken to casually touching her or being near to her?

The grin slipped from Robin's face, "Uh…"

Raven shook her head, deciding to think about yet another Robin-centric problem _later, _when she didn't have the upper hand in a debate. "Come on," she chuckled. "I'll help you pick something out for her."

It wasn't until Robin fell into step alongside her, his palm at the small of her back as they walked toward the Marvel Superhero section of the store that Raven realized she had forgotten about the boy she had been talking to.

She stopped walking and turned around, looking for the guy on whom she had chosen to test her theory. _'And what good had it done?'_ she wondered. Robin hadn't acted jealous one bit. Sure, he came to talk to her, but that wasn't strange in and of itself, and he didn't even subtly threaten the guy, she had been very carefully watching his interaction with him.

'_No he didn't threaten,'_ one of her inner voices offered.

'_He just ignored him completely,'_ another finished.

'_And he was leaning!'_ Raven internally started as the realization ran through her like ice. Robin had _leaned_. He hadn't shown jealousy, per se, but he had managed to stop her from talking to or even remembering the other guy just by his mere conversation. Since when did he have that kind of power over her?

'_Perfect,'_ she thought. She wasn't blind to the irony of it all. After all, she had started attempting to flirt with Kendall in order to test a theory about Robin's attentions. Instead, she'd ended up gaining only further insight into her own. With practically no effort on Robin's part, he had very neatly managed to gain and keep her attention and she had been (consciously or unconsciously, she was not about to figure out which) more than willing to give it to him.

Was she so lost to her emotions then when it came to him? _'Yet another question for another time,_' Raven told herself, shaking her head and looking instead for signs of what happened to Kendall.

"What are you looking for?" Robin asked.

"The guy I was talking to."

"What for?"

"I just left him standing there and ignored him," she explained. When he didn't seem to understand what the problem was, she explained further, "That's very rude."

Robin held her gaze when their eyes met. "You don't usually care."

Raven broke the gaze and continued to look for the tawny haired boy and shrugged noncommittally.

"Unless…" he trailed off and suddenly he was in her line of sight. "Maybe I interrupted something?"

Raven paused, but didn't look at him. The denial was too close to the tip of her tongue but she knew she _had_ wanted him to assume she was flirting to see what he'd do. It would do no good if she denied her interest in the guy now.

His hand reached out and grasped her arm, not tightly but the warmth of his hand startled her into looking in his eyes anyway. "Were you flirting?" he asked, more serious than she would have thought the question might be.

"That depends," she answered. He raised a brow in a decent imitation of her own gesture and waited. She mentally squared her shoulders and asked, "Were you _leaning_?"

Robin was serious, his eyes searching her face for what seemed endless moments before coming to rest on hers again. "Yes, I was." And then, before she could even fathom the words that had come out of his mouth, he let his hand on her arm fall to clasp her hand and tugged her toward the Marvel section of the store. "Come on, let's go get something for the Maulers."

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**Marvel Superhero Island  
By the Lake  
Fireworks (11)  
**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Raven first told herself that she had misheard him. It was simple enough to do, what with the hundreds of people talking and laughing around them, the little children screaming with mirth or upset, and the sounds of the park itself. This was a logical conclusion as to why she might have heard Robin answering that he had been, essentially, flirting with her.

She was both relieved and disappointed at how logical it was, as a matter of fact, but she refused to deliberate on why she was disappointed until she was somewhere alone and quiet and she could actually _think_. This disparity of emotion lasted only about ten minutes, however, because as they considered merchandise in the store for Timmy, Teether, and Melvin he came up behind her, smiling and showing her a Storm t-shirt, asking if she thought Melvin would like such a strong female role-model, and his voice, clear as a bell and twice as unambiguous echoed in her mind. _'Yes, I was.'_

He _had_ verified that he had been leaning, and consequently, flirting with her. He couldn't have been clearer.

By the time they had moved on to the section of the store that catered to the Dr. Seuss enthusiast and they went in search of something for Timmy, she had decided that she had heard him correctly, but he must have been joking.

It was logical to think so. After all, she had been more cheeky than normal when she'd asked him if he was leaning. It would not be strange for him to respond in kind. She had asked the question in the specific tone with the particular idea that she could play it off as a joke if he reacted surprised or astonished.

But as she insisted that she was _not_ going to buy Timmy a Thing 1 wig nor would she buy Teether a Horton nose, she recognized the teasing and playfulness in his tone and couldn't deny that it was nothing like the tone in his response.

In contrast, it had been serious. So serious, it took her breath for a moment as she recalled his expression.

When only Timmy was left and they were back at the Jurassic Park section of the store, she realized she couldn't deny it.

What was more, she had come to an epiphany: Robin _liked_ her.

Her. He chose to spend time with her above the others, he worried about her and tried to make her happy. All these things she knew, had known, for many months (probably years). What she hadn't known, hadn't known how to pick up on, was his gentleness and the way it seemed something in her chest swelled and felt ready to burst at seeing it. It was hard to breathe and she wished she could reach inside her chest and fix whatever was wrong.

Was this love?

She had no basis for comparison, no set of experiences from which to draw. She knew only what she had read about in books and seen in movies, and felt it inadequate to say.

She had recognized lust, attraction…those were easy, but love…

When Beast Boy came to warn them that the fireworks were about to start, she found herself unable to move, even with Robin taking her hand to lead her to the cash register to pay for their selections.

"Rae?" Robin's voice, worried and soft, intruded into her thoughts and she looked at him. "Are you alright?"

For the first time in a very long while, Raven was sufficiently bewildered to say the first thing that came to her mind: "I need a little time." And she wasn't sure he knew exactly what she meant at first. She wasn't sure _she_ knew exactly what she meant.

But then he smiled at her and it was tender and warm and it reminded her of what she'd felt when she'd seen him alive after she defeated her father – a strange sense of euphoria and joy and somewhere inside there, fear.

"I know," he said, leaning in close enough so that no one else could hear him, but she could still see his eyes. "I'll wait."

She knew he had understood exactly what she meant, even if she was only just starting to understand herself.

When the park lights lowered and the music intro began, she pressed against the cold iron banister trimming the edge of the lake under the sweeping tracks of _The Hulk_ rollercoaster and looked up at the sky. The night had turned cool, despite the heat of the day, and she was reminded that the clothes she was wearing had only partly dried and were still considerably moist even under Robin's shirt, as the breeze lifted her hair.

In retrospect, Raven would decide that it was the calm before an epiphany, but as she looked up at the sky, she felt still the way she did just before she cleared her mind to consider a given problem, when the answers to whatever questions she'd had were clear and obvious –

When she felt his presence behind her, all of her doubts and questions, all of her oh-so-logical hypothesis fell away leaving behind only two finite facts: One, she wanted, more than anything else, to feel Robin's arms around her in that moment, to feel his heart beat against her back and his aura envelope her the way it tended to do; and two, she knew, in ways she could never explain, that he wanted it, too.

As the first explosion of color burst over head, Raven took one tentative step back, then another, until she could feel the edge of his aura warming her back, the tension of waiting as he became aware of her purposeful closeness, and then another step until her back lightly bumped his chest.

For endless moments, he was utterly still and she thought she might have made a mistake. She lowered her gaze and saw his hand clutching the metal banister so tightly his knuckles shone white, even in the minimal light from the fireworks. She could step away, she knew. It was her last chance – if she'd made a mistake, if she _had _misinterpreted his glances, the touches throughout the days she was only just starting to realize might have been purposeful, she could still walk away as if nothing had happened and spare herself the pain and humiliation if she was wrong.

But she could feel his heartbeat quicken through the pulse of his aura, she could feel the ghost of his arms around her, memories of what he'd done several times in the day or flashes of what might be, she wasn't sure, but she refused to think about it. Instead, she inhaled a deep breath, placed her hand over his, and gently coaxed his fingers free of the banister. She didn't have a moment to doubt or wonder what she'd do once they were free, because as soon as they let go of the cold metal, they linked with hers, spreading warmth through her like a wildfire. As she exhaled, she leaned her head back slightly, her eyes on the brilliant show of light in the darkness above them, until she felt him release a breath and relax by degrees.

His fingers in hers tightened and as he lowered his head so that his forehead rested on her shoulder, his other arm curled around her waist and he held her flush against him, inhaling deeply.

His breath tickled the back of her neck and she felt for the first time ever, as if she would be shaking if he weren't holding her, but she didn't move.

Not even when, after a few moments, he brought his hand still holding hers around her waist and raised his head to look at the fireworks.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
**The Grand Floridian**  
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His entire relationship with Raven was made up of communications without words. It didn't matter what form that relationship had taken or how many times it might have changed. He knew this, he usually was glad for it and felt closer to her because of it, but on their last night in Florida, as he counted the suitcases the bellboys would pick up in the morning to send ahead of them to the airport and the boxes of souvenirs they would mail home, he couldn't help wishing she were a bit more forthcoming with words.

Now that it seemed she had finally, _finally_ understood his feelings, he didn't know how to approach her about what she felt about it all. She accepted them, that he knew by the way she had sought out his embrace during the fireworks, but he also knew she perhaps wasn't ready to 'go public' with any of it by the way she had stepped away as the fireworks ended and the lights came back on. She didn't jerk away, as if she were surprised, and for that he was thankful because it meant she wasn't sorry she had stepped back into him or let him hold her.

Robin ran a hand through his just washed and still damp hair as he sidestepped boxes, finally all but collapsing onto the couch, already prepared for him. He sat in the middle of the couch and sipped at his bottled water somewhat numbly and wished they could just talk it all through plainly.

Robin always did prefer being straight about things once he'd made up his mind, but he had known he couldn't do that with Raven from the first moment it occurred to him that he _wanted_ to.

What was she thinking? Would she pull away if he tried to hold her hand on the ride to the airport tomorrow? Would she sit next to him on the flight home? If the others asked, would she say she knew he had been trying to let her know how he felt about her? _Did_ she know he'd been trying to tell her how much he loved her for months now or did she maybe think this was a more recent phenomenon?

The drive to the hotel from the park had been uneventful, and although Robin knew that if the others had looked at them during the fireworks show, they would have certainly realized something had changed between them, they wouldn't be able to guess by their behavior in the taxi on the way to the hotel. Did she want to keep it that way?

If it had taken her this long to figure out that he'd been sending her signals the whole week, had she even picked up that the others knew he'd been doing so?

In the elevator up to their suite, Starfire had caught him looking at Raven. While he was embarrassed at the knowing look in Star's eye, she had winked at him over Raven's head and he had thought then that perhaps Starfire would take it upon herself to talk to Raven that night. But they had been busy showering, picking up, packing, and he had lost track of them both at some point and the next thing he knew, everyone had gone to sleep and their room was dark and not a sound was coming from it.

Robin sighed and leaned back onto the couch, resting his head and closing his eyes. He would have no choice but to act the same as he'd been acting and take his cues from Raven. He couldn't risk pushing her beyond her limits, not when he'd come so far.

He had _just_ lain down and was fighting with the sheets to make them comfortable when he heard one of the bedroom doors open.

He knew it was Raven even before he heard the familiar sound of her steps muffled on the plush carpet.

He kept still and listened for her direction, imagining the look on her face as she navigated around the boxes and suitcases littering the living area of the suite, heard it when she hit something and mumbled under her breath. When he realized she was going to be walking around the side of the couch where she could easily see him, he sat up, never thinking his sudden appearance would make her start and another of the boxes. "Damnit," she swore under her breath as she stopped walking, glaring at him.

"Are you alright?" Robin asked.

Raven nodded and shook her foot. "Fine. I just stubbed my toe," she answered, her voice low.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked.

She pointed to the far wall. "Water," she answered. She reached the mini fridge and pulled out a small bottle of water, taking a drink from it before walking around the front of the couch. She seemed about to say something when she noticed his makeshift sleeping arrangements. She stopped and stared for a moment. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I can't sleep in our room," he answered, rather sheepishly.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Beast Boy drools," he answered, "And Cyborg hogs up the entire bed with his travel charge bay." He shrugged. "So, I've been sleeping out here."

"This whole week?" Raven pressed, obviously surprised.

He nodded and lowered his legs, sitting on the couch instead of sitting up on it. "'Fraid so."

"Why didn't you say anything before?" she asked, nearing him.

He ran a hand through his messy hair and shrugged again. "There was nothing you could've done."

Raven was trying to think of what to say, but met his eyes and stopped. She looked away, but bridged the rest of the distance between her and the couch and without need for invitation, sat down next to him.

Pleasantly surprised, Robin looked at her and smiled, but he didn't reach out for her – he did not fail to notice that she was not looking at him and there could have been a blush on her mildly suntanned cheeks.

They sat in silence for a while, and recalling his previous resolution to let Raven go at her own pace, he didn't seek to fill it, even though there were many questions he could fill it with.

"How long?"

"Sorry?" he asked for clarification. "How long have I been sleeping on the couch?"

It seemed as if she might turn to look at him, but changed her mind at the last minute. Her gaze remained on the bottle of water in her hands. "How long have you been trying to…?" she trailed off.

He was worried for all of three seconds: what should he say? How much should he reveal at this juncture?

" -- to let you know how I feel about you?" he offered. His eyes never left her, so he caught her nod. "Well…" he mused, scratching at the back of his neck. "Consciously, probably since we saw _Casablanca_ together." He felt himself blushing despite his resolve to be honest. "At least, as a set plan, I mean," he rambled. "If I thought back, I know there were other moments that I didn't plan but…" he trailed off, realizing he was offering way more information than she had asked for, and looked toward the windows across from them and the distant lights of the city.

"That long?" she asked. She spoke so softly that it was only because there was absolutely no other sound that he heard her at all. "I really am dense."

"Not dense." She looked at him and he smiled at her. "Maybe a little slow."

"So what do we do now?" she asked with trepidation.

So of course, he couldn't help it – he laughed.

She looked at him in surprise, a frown creasing her brows and this time, he knew he was seeing her cheeks redden even under the tan, and it made him want to laugh even more. She frowned harder, lifting her eyebrows and narrowing her eyes. When all he did was smile, she looked away from him and he forced himself to sober, even though he still thought she looked awfully cute. Very slowly he reached for her, taking her small, soft hand in his, marveling at the contrast in size, and texture, his fingers gently feeling the contours as if he would memorize her by bits.

He waited until her hand relaxed in his to speak, "That's up to you."

"How so?"

"Like I said before," he said as he smiled at her. "I'll wait until you're ready."

"Ready for what?"

"Ready for the others to know, for instance."

"The others?" she wondered aloud, and after a few moments, admitted, "Starfire's figured it out."

"I thought so," he said calmly.

"You knew?" she asked.

"I think even Beast Boy figured it out before you did," he teased.

She frowned, but not so seriously. "Yes, I understand: I'm slow."

"What did Starfire tell you?" he asked.

Raven's brow pursed in thought, "She said she could see how happy I was around you."

Robin grinned and very casually one of his hands traveled up to caress her wrist. "And are you?"

Raven glanced at him. "I am," she said seriously.

He smiled. "Did she tell you how happy I am around you?"

One corner of her lip quirked upward. "She did mention that, yes."

"So, what do you want to do?" he asked after a few minutes.

"I don't care if the others know that I've finally seen what they seem to have known all along," she answered pensively. "Or that I – " she trailed off and when she looked at Robin, he seemed to be waiting. Even the hands that had been almost absently caressing her hand were still. "--that I reciprocate."

Robin exhaled and laughed. He tried to stop when Raven stiffened in his hold, but he just couldn't. He knew it was the sudden release of pressure, but he didn't know how to explain that to her. When she tried to pull away, he held on.

"You reciprocate?" he asked when she glared at him. "_Reciprocate_? Really?"

"Forgive me for having a better vocabulary than you do."

He raised her hand and kissed it, threading his fingers through hers. "Whatever you call it," he said, his tone still amused and all happy. "I'm just glad you like me too."

She glanced away and started to stand, but fell back against the couch when he wouldn't relinquish her hand.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"To sleep," she answered, her tone nowhere near as expressionless as she maybe would have wanted it to be. "We have an early day tomorrow."

"You could always sleep here," he said, his thumb caressing the palm of her hand.

"Why would I do that when I have a perfectly good bed in there?"

He didn't care if she tried to play it off, he could see the reaction in the way she held herself and wouldn't look at him. That was enough for now. "You're right," he admitted with a smile. "Go on to bed."

And when he would have released her hand, she held onto his. "I have an idea," she said. He raised a brow and met her eyes. "Why don't you sleep in my bed?"

It was his turn to blush and to be glad he was sitting down. He had only been teasing her when he suggested she sleep on the couch with him, and hadn't thought she'd take it serious. That she would offer her bed left him dumbfounded. "What?"

"I'll push Starfire over onto one side of her bed and sleep with her. You can take my bed," she said, oblivious to what ideas her question had put into his head. "At least, it must be better than this couch."

"I think maybe I better not."

"Why not?"

"It'll look weird in the morning," he admitted.

She blushed as his meaning became clear, but shrugged it off. "Like anyone's going to think anything happened with Starfire in the room," she said, tugging on his hand. "Come on, it'll be fine." She turned to him when he hadn't budged and sighed. "I won't be able to sleep knowing you're out here on this couch," she admitted.

He smiled and nodded. "Alright." He allowed her to pull him up off the couch and lead him to her room, through the door, and into the mostly dark and cool interior. By the light coming in from the slit of the curtains, he could easily see the side of the bed where Raven had lain down, the side closest to the bed where Starfire was sprawled with her head hanging off the end.

"Starfire sleeps like the dead," she said, nonetheless quietly. She left him at the door and went to the far side of Starfire's bed. He watched, awed, as she grabbed Star's arm and a leg and pulled her across the bed until the alien was mostly on the left. He smirked and slipped under the covers that were still warm with Raven's body heat.

He heard the rustling of sheets as Raven got into the right side of the bed, but he didn't look at her until he was laying in the bed on his side, his every breath taking in the scent of Raven's shampoo from her pillow. He looked across to the other bed and saw her in a mirror image of his position, her eyes trained on him for a few moments before they slowly fluttered closed.

As he watched her breathing, it occurred to him that they hadn't really resolved anything about how they'd be acting in the morning, but as his eyes drifted closed and as felt sleep begin to claim him, he knew it didn't matter. They'd figure it out when the time came.

They had a wordless kind of communication after all.

_xxxxxxxxxxx_

**Notes:**

(1)I don't know that this is true. Actually, it might very well not be true. I remember it was pretty fast when it first opened, but there's been many advancements since then I suppose.

(2) MGM Studios is now called Hollywood Studios. I guess MGM didn't renew its contract with Disney, but it's been MGM since it opened and since this story is actually set in 2007, I figured I'd keep it as MGM.

(3) Another instance where I am pulling stuff outta my as…imagination. I don't know what Raven's Azarath was like, but I personally like to picture it as a place that would have temples…I mean, they had Priests and Priestesses, no?

(4) Obviously, a reference to the Teen Titans episode, _Spellbound_.

(5) Triceratops Encounter has closed. I don't know when it closed, but I think it was still open when Kysra and I went back in 2007, which is when all these ideas were set.

(6) Back in 2007, while Kysra and I were at Magic Kingdom and we started talking these two chapters out, and then the next day at Islands of Adventure when we continued to talk this chapter out, we discussed them on Dudley Do-Right. My recollection of the ride was that it was like many a log-flume type ride, which meant, it did not have seats. The last time I had ridden Dudley Do-Right, the log was just a bench running along the center of the log, with bars along the side and at the very front of the log to hold on to. I found out once we actually got on the ride that this was no longer true. Dudley Do-Right's Rip Saw Falls now has proper seats. They still don't have any seatbelts or anything else to hold you _to_ your seat, but you have a seatback and there are bars to hold on to along the sides and along the back of each seat.

(7) Made up background information on Garfield. I know some about Garfield's past from titantower, but I think it doesn't fall into what I say here exactly. But if you squint and tilt your head just so, it might not be completely inconsistent…right?

(8) Totally made up statistic. I even really hated the statistics class I had to take in college, so it isn't even a really well researched made up statistic.

(9) More made up background information. See number (7) above.

(10) Reference to _It Only Takes a Moment, Part XIV – Wishes, I._

(11) In April of 2006, I went to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios both. I caught a pretty bad cold on one of the nights there and was suffering from it pretty badly the entirety of the next day at the second park. In one of these parks, during this trip, there were fireworks in the park at the end of the night. I could've sworn they were in Islands of Adventure because I remember sitting because I was practically dying while my best friend and his fiancé stood under the Hulk coaster to watch the fireworks. Still – this could have been the first night at Universal, because I was feeling very tired that night, even if I didn't know that I was sick yet. So, the purpose of this is to say that I can't be sure that Islands of Adventure park has EVER had fireworks, but one of those two did at some point, have a fireworks show.

**End A/N:** This is NOT the end of _**It Only Takes a Moment**_. There are a few chapters left still, so no worries. Some of the people who got to read this as a sneak peek through emsscraps seemed worried about that, so I thought I'd clear it up here.

**Somewhat of a Sneak Peek:** The next chapters that I have planned (and started) are titled, _"__**The Outing", "Midnight Fair", and "Night Shift"**_, although that is NOT necessarily the order in which they'll be released. I haven't decided on the order yet, really.

I hope y'all enjoy this one!


	16. XVI: Night Shift

**A/N:** No, your eyes are NOT deceiving you! I have, indeed, updated **_It Only Takes a Moment_**! You are free to make merry. ::grin:: Seriously, though...two things about this chapter of note:

1. Probably the most important note ever (well, not _ever_, but maybe recently): This has not been beta'd. At all. **_Kysra_** read bits of it, but she hasn't read the entire thing all put up together, and she's more plot beta than grammar/spelling beta, so yeah. Any mistakes are entirely my own. In that vein...does anyone want to apply for the post of beta? I'm ashamed to go back to the betas that I used to have working on this series, so I'm open to new people. If the old betas would like to continue doing their work, feel free to let me know! There aren't that many chapters left to this baby. And I promise not to make any other chapter as long as **_Wishes, I_** or **_Wishes, II._**Cross my heart!

2. A warning: This fic goes back to the style of **_Moments_** before **_Wishes_**...so, part of it is rather inane, pointless conversation. Be ready for it.

Still...I'm sure you guys were dying to find out how Robin and Raven will act with each other after the events of **_Wishes_**, no?

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Never have been, never will be.

**Disclaimer 2:** This chapter brought to you by BoS. **_Kysra_** will know what I mean. ::BIG GRIN::

**Thanks:** To everyone who still reviews and says, "hey! I like this! Write more!" or something like that. And to everyone who reviews with details as to which chapters they like best and what they think is going to happen, etc. Even to all of you who don't review, but still let me know you're liking what you're reading by favoriting my story or my account. Merci!

_xxxxx_

_**It Only Takes a Moment  
Part XVI: Night Shift  
by Em**_

_The quickest way to know a woman is to go shopping with her._  
- Marcelene Cox

"You are one _strange_ bird."

Raven stopped mid-stride and turned bewildered eyes to him, "Of all of my habits, _this_," she motions around them, "is the one you single out as weird?"

He shook his head, "I didn't say weird," he clarified. "I said strange."

She gave him that look that said he was being silly or grasping at straws and, grabbing a bottle of Caesar salad dressing from the shelf at their left, continued walking, "They're synonymous," she said as she stopped before the selection of vinegar.

"No they're not," Robin argued. "They're quite distinct, actually," he assured.

She turned to him, brow raised, "Name one difference."

"Weird has a negative implication, connoting something that is out of the ordinary in a bad way, while 'strange' has more of an awe attached to it."

She narrowed her eyes as if she might say something, but walked on instead, leaving the vinegar bottles untouched. "Nice save," she said casually as he caught up to her. "But it doesn't change the fact that of all the _strange_ things I do, _this_ is what strikes you?"

He looked at her under the fluorescent lights as she inspected the selection of canned vegetables on the shelf to their right. "Well, frankly," he started, "I didn't even know we had a 24 hour supermarket, let alone that you would chose to frequent it at 2 in the morning."

She pulled a can of sweet corn and one of peas off the shelf and let them drop into the cart. "It's really the best time to do grocery shopping," she explained as she walked the squeaky grocery cart on down the lane. "There are no annoying children, no slow old people, no cranky and harried yuppies that stop in to pick up some stuff on their way home..." she trailed off to look at the boxes of instant mashed potatoes.

Robin looked around at the nearly deserted aisles and had to admit to the logic of her thinking, "It's like we're the only ones here."

She nodded briskly, "Exactly."

Robin looked at her and smiled. "How often do you come here?" Robin asked as he found the sauce mix packets he liked to prepare for his meat along the aisle near the bottom. He bent to retrieve the packs he favored but stopped to look back at her when she didn't immediately answer.

Raven was staring at him as if he had said something incredibly stupid, "As often as I need supplies," she finally answered.

Robin smiled and shook his head, grabbing up his sauce mix packs and dunking them unceremoniously into the metal cart. "I mean at this late time."

Raven shrugged, "I don't keep score," and continued walking.

"Now you're just being facetious."

Raven glanced at him. "Be honest," she said, "How long have you been waiting for an opening to use that word?"

"Har-de-har-har," Robin deadpanned.

"I see," she replied, and returned to pushing the cart down the aisle. The sound of the wheels on the linoleum floor echoed a little under the easy listening station piping over the loudspeakers and it took him a moment to realize that the song was somewhat familiar.

"Huh," he mused as they stopped in the next aisle over.

"Faithfully."

Robin looked at Raven as she placed the can of tomato sauce she had gone back for in the cart. "What is?" he asked, pushing the cart further down the lane as he hastened to catch up to her.

"What is what?" she asked, taking her inspection away from the pastas display to look at him over her shoulder.

"You said it was faithfully," he clarified.

She nodded and went back to decided between the ravioli and the angel hair. "It is."

"What is?" he prompted.

She scooped the box of ravioli off the shelf and turned back to frown at him. "The song is." At his continued look of confusion, she motioned in a vaguely upward direction and waited for him to catch on.

Into their silence, he heard the music, and it suddenly fell into place. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "Yeah, of course," he nodded, humming along with the song, and joining in with, "I'm forever yours...faithfully," in an off-key baritone.

Raven winced. "Are you tone-deaf?" she asked.

Robin frowned and looked offended. "I don't appreciate the insinuation."

Raven almost smirked, but then she shrugged and turned to put the ravioli in the cart. "I thought I was being rather clear in my opinion on your ability to carry a tune," she said, walking on down the lane.

"I'm sure you could do better," he replied, pushing the squeaky cart after her.

"I'd be hard pressed not to," she assured, stopping before the selection of pasta sauces.

"So, prove it, then," he challenged.

She looked at him sideways. "I don't think so," she said in the tone she usually reserved for people who suggested she might have herself a good laughing fit one of these days.

Robin grinned. "Ah, that's 'cause you can't."

"No," she corrected, raising a brow. "That's because I am not interested in making a spectacle of myself in public."

Robin continued to grin. "Since when have you cared what the public thinks of you?" he asked. "You do things that have people staring at you all the time on a day to day basis," he reminded her.

"But I am a superheroine when I do," she explained. "And am in the process of saving something or someone at the time," she added. "I can't afford to care what kind of public disturbance I make when I'm doing my job."

"Public disturbance?" he echoed.

She chose a red pasta sauce and an Alfredo pasta sauce and put them in the cart. "Public displays."

Robin watched her for a moment, "Public displays?" he echoed again. She nodded, but didn't look at him. He caught hold of her hand when she would have moved on, however, and she turned back to look at him, surprise plain for him to read in the slight widening of her eyes and lifting of her brows. "By public displays, do you mean something like this?" he asked when their eyes met, giving her hand a slight tug and catching her enough by surprise that she actually moved forward toward him until she had to put a hand on his chest to stop herself from falling against him. Before she could protest or gain her bearings enough to move away, he had wrapped his arms around her, trapping her against him.

He saw the look on her face go from surprise to self-consciousness and finally settle on the expression she used to denote how very put upon she was, but he wasn't fooled. He could feel her pulse racing in her wrist, and he knew there was no way she was misinterpreting this action of his now...not the way she might have several weeks ago - before Disney World.

"This wasn't precisely what I was thinking about, no," she admitted, her tone flat, but not flat enough that he couldn't read it.

"Oh?" he asked. "Because I've been thinking about something precisely like this for awhile now," he admitted.

She could obviously sense the playfulness in his tone, but he knew his bluntness still caught her off-guard. "Like this?" she asked.

He smiled. "Well, any of several variations, but yes, generally speaking..."

"Here?" she asked.

"Well, it isn't like I've had many other opportunities," he admitted. His hand trailed down from her cheek and his arm just naturally seemed to find its way around her waist once again. "It's been pretty busy these few weeks since we've been back from Disney."

"It has," she allowed, her voice slightly lower than usual. "So you've been looking for an opportunity to do this since we've been back from Disney?" she asked.

He smiled softly at her. "I have," he admitted. He could see her working something out in her mind, so he waited.

"I suppose this is the sort of thing..." she trailed off before she could finish the thought.

Robin could count on one hand the amount of time he'd seen Raven at a loss for words and still have enough fingers left over to open a jar of pickles. That night, standing in the middle of an aisle in the local 24 hour supermarket, he added one more time to his list. He had a feeling he knew what she was trying to say, but wasn't sure he wanted to save her from having to say it.

"What?" he prodded.

"The sort of thing that's done," she said, obviously carefully choosing her words.

"Not everyone does this sort of thing, no," he said, deliberately obtuse.

She glared at him, even though the slight blush tinging her ears and crawling over her cheeks lessened its otherwise notable effect. "People like us," she said. When it was obvious he wasn't going to help her, she sighed, as much as she could still in his arms. "Like we are," she tried to clarify.

The look of amusement left Robin's eyes and he leaned in a little closer to her. "And what are we?" he asked.

Before she could speak, they heard the tread of a sneaker on the waxed linoleum and Raven stiffened and started to pull back. Robin held firm, and he saw the spark of fight in her eye as she glared at him when she realized he wouldn't just let go.

She started to tense for a real attempt when he smiled at her and spoke. "Now, I know you could easily break free if you wanted to," he said, "But this isn't really so bad, is it?" When she was shocked into relaxing, he raised one of his arms and pushed back the ever-present strand of hair resting over her forehead back behind her ear, letting his hand linger for a moment along her cheek. Her eyes searched his face, and before either one could speak again, the person with the tennis shoes had turned the corner onto their aisle and stopped dead at the sight of the two teens in a seemingly amorous embrace.

"Oh, oops!" the female voice called out, somewhat quietly, before she giggled. "I'll leave you two be, shall I?" she said, and started to back away.

Raven broke Robin's stare, although she didn't try to pull away from him anymore, and turned to look at the girl. "Don't let us keep you from your shopping," she said seriously to the girl. She looked back at Robin and raised a brow. "We won't make you uncomfortable, anymore, will we?" she asked.

Richard smiled and let her go so she could straighten up and step away, but he slipped his hand into hers. She didn't fight him, and the realization only made him grin all the harder. He turned that bright grin on the girl in the supermarket's uniform. "Sorry."

The girl's grin practically split her face. "Hey, s'alright, I completely understand," she waved and started to walk back into their aisle. "If my boyfriend were here, in this silence and stillness, I'd be finding it hard to keep my hands off him too," she chuckled and didn't catch the look Robin threw at Raven. "If you two want some privacy there's a corner back by deli meats where the cameras don't catch a thing," she stopped in the middle of the aisle and turned to wink at them before replacing the box of linguine she had in her hand.

Robin shot a devilish grin at Raven who raised a brow, but couldn't quite keep the smile from the corners of her lips. Robin, for his part, was just glad Raven didn't feel the need to correct the girl about their status. He wasn't quite sure what they were - or, more to the point, what Raven thought they were - but he knew it didn't really matter.

_xxx_

**A/N:** Yep. That's it. Short and quick. How'd you like it? Disappointed? I've got a few other _**Moments**_ planned out and some I've even started written, so you can look forward to those. For more information on them, go visit my emsscraps livejournal page. I always put updates onto there. _**Moments**_ even has its own tag and memory tag, so you can find stuff related to it relatively quickly.

Also...I don't like the quote I used for this, but I'm tired and sleepy and if I don't post this now, I might well forget. So...I'm stuck with it.

Any ideas? I might change it if I got a suggestion of a quote that I liked better.


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